Prince of Thieves
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: When Bakura has a boy dropped on his head in the desert, he has no idea what it means for him! Now he has a brother, but Horus is nothing like Bakura expects. And he comes with a secret. Horus is a mage, but more than that he's the chosen of Bastet! Can Horus save his brother from the manipulations of the Ring, or will the dark spirit of Zorc win? Rated for Bakura and Horus' mouth.
1. Chapter 1

You would think the gods would know better. Because of the meddling of the gods, two children would have their destinies changed.

Whether for good or ill had yet to be seen.

Ba-Ku-Ra was doing his usual daily routine. Leave the village, steal from overpaid merchants for food, escape from merchants and/or guards, and make it home to share with family.

You know, the usual.

But today was different.

Today a rare storm with actual _rain_ would occur, so he had to cut his intake down.

At least, that was the plan.

_Did anyone kill that horse that hit me?!_ He thought irritably. Something hard had impacted on him without warning.

When he sat up, he heard a soft thump, and a whimper. He turned around to find himself looking in the eyes of a child. A young one at that.

He had the most stunning green eyes he had ever seen. Almost like he had real emeralds for eyes. And that hair was so dark that it could have come from a noble's head.

He was also skinnier than him, which was saying something. Any child that pretty would have been sold off to the highest bidder in a heartbeat. Or kept very, very close to their parents to marry off to some rich noblewoman.

"Who the hell are you kid?" he asked finally.

"I...don't know."

The way the boy (he figured that much from the voice) talked spoke of beatings. Many, many beatings. Which made absolutely no sense at all.

You don't beat a child with looks like that. It would label them damaged goods.

"Where are you from?"

"I don't know."

He sighed. Great, the kid had no memory.

He looked at the sun, and made up his mind. At the very least, he couldn't leave the kid here. To the annoyance of his parents, he had a tendency to bring back strays. Though even he had never brought home a child with him.

"Stick with me then, and for the love of Ra try to keep up!"

The boy nodded. He seemed like the eager to please type.

Ba-Ku-Ra, started his usual ground eating lope. To his relief, the boy was faster than he looked. It only took him a minute to catch on to running on hot sand. The kid didn't even have thin sandals!

The more he learned about the boy, the more confused he became.

The kid looked like a noble's child, and had eyes greener than an a gem. He had been beaten often, and was definitely underfed. He had thin garments, which meant his parents were either poor or disliked him. And he was fast...almost as if he was used to running away.

All of it spoke of a bad house. And the kid couldn't remember his own name.

* * *

They made good time to the market. Though he didn't like calling his new...friend...kid all the time.

He noted a merchant with trained falcons for the nobles, and an idea occurred to him. He was named Ba-Ku-Ra, or Spirit of Ra _**(not really sure if that's true, but I read in another story it was)**_.

Why couldn't the boy be named after a god as well?

He looked at the boy, who was only slightly out of breath. Probably from the heat.

"Since neither of us have any idea what your name is, from now on I'll just call you Horus."

"After the God of Light?"

So the kid new about the local gods. That was a good sign. He nodded, and the kid brightened up.

"Right, so my job right now is to steal food from those merchants and get as far away as I can before they catch up. The trick is to run like hell."

"I'm good at running. Which ones do you look for?"

"Normally I try to take the ones which are closest to the edge. Sometimes they're bruised, but that can't be helped."

Horus nodded. It was a sound plan.

"Can I help?"

"Let's see how good you are before we try for anything hard."

Bakura was waiting patiently. He had allowed Horus to try his own luck at thieving. If he was any good, he would consider having the kid help him. If not, then he would have some work to do before he would bring the kid back.

He heard yelling, and grinned. Sounded like the kid had his first chase!

Then he blinked when he realized that Horus was walking along without anyone running after him. With a full load of fruit and bread.

He gaped.

"How the hell did you...?"

"I found some dumb noble woman who took a liking to me, and convinced the stall owner that I was her son. He bought the lie and handed me more food than I can eat."

It took three seconds before he laughed. This kid was good!

"Right, I'll go steal a basket and we'll try our luck again. You are more amusing than I thought."

Horus grinned sheepishly. He wasn't used to praise.

By the time they headed back to his village, Bakura and Horus had stolen more food than even he had ever managed to get in one day.

Horus had such an innocent face that the merchants couldn't believe he was lying outright. Even with Bakura, a known thief, standing right beside him.

He had little doubt his father would adopt the boy outright. Horus was too cute to let go.

* * *

His father looked at Bakura with disbelief. Not only did he bring a child home with him, but he acted as if the boy was one of the many strays that he forbid his son from bringing back!

Then the kid turned the puppy eyes of doom, and he almost relented.

Almost.

"We can't afford another brat."

Then Bakura pulled out his best gambit. Two whole baskets of food, all of it fresh.

He gaped.

"How...?"

"Horus here is a better liar than he looks. He conned six merchants of their best wares and they never caught on," smirked Bakura.

"...Fine you can keep him. But he stays with you, understood?"

Bakura's smirk widened. He had hoped that would happen.

* * *

It had been two years since Horus crashed into Bakura, and they had quickly become as close as blood siblings. Horus was a natural thief, able to move his slender body in ways that made his brother wince.

During those two years, he had filled out. He no longer looked half starved or beaten. He wore comfortable and cheap clothes, and had learned how to use knives from the best in the village.

His puppy eyed look had become the most dreaded thing in the village, because with it he could get all but the most cold hearted to cave to whatever he wanted.

Even his brother, who had developed something of an immunity to it.

Everything was going fine for the brothers...until that night when the Pharaoh's men came.

At first, he thought they had finally come for Horus. He still believed the boy had to be the son of a cruel noble, if only because of his looks.

But the men didn't even once start asking about a green eyed boy with black hair. They just started killing people without mind or reason.

Horus was right beside him, horrified. He didn't even _try_ to use his look on the men. They weren't acting like they normally would. It was as if they were wild animals.

When they saw a few of the soldiers go into their house, they followed. They knew full well they had no chance of saving anyone. The only thing they could do was hide and pray that they wouldn't be found.

Neither of them saw the large night black cat that stalked alongside them, eyes as bright as the moon.

Bakura kept his brother from watching the horrific scene before them. These...creatures...were enacting a forbidden ritual that would forge seven mythical items of power.

Horus saw the entire scene anyway, too scared to even move. To his credit, his body refused to alert the people before them to their presence.

Suddenly, the two came face to face with a large black cat. Bakura went to defend his brother, only to have the feline's eyes bore right into his own. The knife fell to the floor, silent.

"_You two have seen far too much. It is time to leave."_

The cat...was speaking to them. It was Horus who put the pieces together first.

"...Bastet?"

The cat purred, and laid down for them to climb on. They didn't hesitate, and soon the burning village was far behind them.

"Why?" asked Horus, trying not to cry.

"_The Pharaoh was foolish enough to allow his brother to create the Seven Items of Darkness. Now the entire world could fall because of it."_

"But why our village?!" growled Bakura.

"_In order to forge the items, ninety-nine souls must be sacrificed and enslaved to the Darkness. Their bodies will become the Items, never to rest in peace until the foul energy created through the ritual is cleansed."_

"Why did you save us?" asked Bakura.

The cat gave it's equivalent of a laugh.

"_Surely you didn't think Horus fell on you by accident? I have always been watching you two, ever since I kidnapped Horus from his small room."_

Bakura looked at his brother.

"I always wondered why I heard a cat purring right before I fell. That was you?"

"_The old man is a meddler. He took a prophecy too seriously, which is why you are an orphan. Besides, this way Horus owes me one."_

"Wait, Horus has been watching him too?"

"_Your...brother...is a rare child of Light. All of the more friendly gods have been watching him since he was born. The dark ones too, if only to either corrupt or kill him."_

Bastet paused. Standing before them was a small oasis, not too far from the village to return, but far enough that none of the possessed soldiers would find them.

"_I will leave you two here. It is up to you how you move forward. Just know that Horus and I are always watching you two."_

And with that, she vanished.

Bakura looked at his brother and said "Who knew you were the favored of Bastet?"

"Don't forget Horus," quipped Horus, grinning.

"Bah... At least this makes things interesting. What do we do now?"

Horus shrugged. He mostly followed his brother's lead when it came to the big stuff. Bakura was older than him by a year.

"Right. We need to go home just before the sun rises, and see what's left. We'll start from there."

Horus nodded. It was a sound plan.

Besides, all their knives were in the house.

* * *

Kul Elna was as quiet as a pharaoh's tomb, and just as friendly. The only indication that there had even been a village there was the scent of freshly spilled blood. All the bodies had been melted into the cursed gold.

Bakura's look darkened the more he saw. The only thing that kept him from chasing the men who did this was the fact that his brother was right beside him. If anything, Horus looked even more angry than Bakura.

"We...are going to kill the bastards," said Horus coldly.

He nodded. For now, they had to get better, stronger.

Horus had learned through Bastet that he had a unique power that few had.

Magic.

Which explained why his former relatives had banned the word from his hearing. Obviously they had known exactly what he was, and were determined to keep it from manifesting.

Bakura, on the other hand, wanted him to practice as often as he could. Horus (the god) had decided to be mischievous since he stole several important scrolls from the palace, and had dropped them right on his head.

Needless to say, the boy wasn't too happy with the hawk god, since those scrolls had been hard and very heavy.

On the plus side, Horus was learning very quickly how to use his powers.

He also found a very useful trick that he practiced repeatedly. He would steal some very expensive items (without bothering to con anyone) and disappear without a sound.

Usually by landing on his brother, but Bakura forgave him every time he saw what Horus had nicked.

* * *

By the time Bakura was sixteen, the two were already well known in the surrounding villages.

Horus, for his disappearing trick and innocent seeming eyes, and Bakura for his ruthlessness. Whenever the two became surrounded by guards, Horus would escape and leave his brother to fight.

Mostly because the one time Horus had been captured, they had almost killed him in an underground arena.

One of the slave traders recognized his powers, and had taken him bound and gagged to an arena full of hardened criminals. The men would then fight using their shadow beasts, usually grotesque monsters.

Horus had his own favorites, but some of the monsters were the wrong attribute.

To Bakura's amusement, his brother had a magician type monster as his Ka beast. Maha Vialo was the perfect Ka beast for his brother, considering any spells meant to augment the beast only made it more powerful.

Horus was dragged onto the platform. The loser would be sent straight to the Shadow Realm. No exceptions.

The beast before him was huge...but it was also of the Dark attribute.

He tried not to grin.

"Dharc, come forth!"

His second favorite Ka beast, Dharc the Dark Charmer, burst out of the Shadows with a scowl. He took one look at the beast before them, and had it fighting it's own master.

Horus heard the angry shouts from the slavers, and sneered at them. Then they unleashed two other attribute monsters. He glared, and summoned another beast.

Kuriboh.

The small (and highly annoying to his enemies) beast multiplied without ending, giving him a perfect shield. He had ten of them attack one monster, and fifteen on the other. They self destructed, causing the Overseer to cry out in agony.

Seeing his chance, he tried to vanish as usual. Unfortunately, the Shadows devour all magic but it's own. So he went to plan B.

The screams of the men he killed would haunt him for days, but the poison he got hit with would usually block the memories of it with pure pain.

Probably because it was scorpion venom. The mere fact he survived the poison spoke volumes about him.

* * *

Mana was a happy go lucky student of magic. While her spells didn't always work (sometimes they worked too well and she had trouble reversing them) that never stopped her.

Though she did wonder why all her training scrolls vanished right after she had read them. And why her teacher kept trying to find the more difficult ones.

So when a black haired boy falls unconscious before her, radiating clear signs of magic, she does the only thing she could.

She takes him back to the palace for treatment.

It took her teacher a good hour to realize the boy had been poisoned with a rather potent scorpion venom. A normal human would have died by then.

It took him four more hours before he was even conscious.

"Ow...fucking slave traders."

Startled by the rather strong word, she gave him a look Mahado used on her whenever she swore out loud. (Though he would pretend not to hear if she actually had a good reason to curse.)

She couldn't see his eyes from where she was standing, but she knew they had to be adorable. Even if he did have a mouth on him.

Sensing she was there, he gave her an unamused look. She could just barely catch his eye color.

Why didn't he want anyone to know he had green eyes?

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in the infirmary!" she chirped. When Mahado walked in, she certain didn't expect such a dark aura to emit from the boy. Or to find him looking right at her master's Millennium Item with such anger.


	2. Chapter 2

Mahado looked at the boy his apprentice had brought in. he was definitely a natural mage, though why the boy had such fury towards him when they had never met he had no idea.

"I am glad to see that the anti venom didn't go to waste," he said dryly.

The glare, if anything, grew stronger.

"I am curious as to _why_ I have never heard of you. And I am most certain that I would have heard of a boy with such powerful magic by now," he commented.

"You probably _have_ heard of me, and wondered why I had yet to be picked up by your precious guards," said Horus, annoyed.

Mahado finally noticed his eyes.

Startling green eyes and long black hair kept in a rather loose ponytail... As well as being a clear mage...

"You're Horus of the Desert," he said finally.

The boy seemed amused.

"So you _have_ heard of me. Good."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't arrest you on sight," he said annoyed.

"One, because I just took out an entire ring of slave traders dealing in shadow mages. Two, I barely survived being poisoned by what I assume was scorpion venom. And three, because I really doubt you would be able to hold me even if you _did_ call the guards."

Mahado sensed the boy's magic, and reluctantly admitted he had a point. The boy was too strong for the usual magic inhibitors to be of any use, and to be frank he had never once used his magic unprovoked.

He was at a loss for what to do.

"I have only one question. Why are you still glaring at me when I saved you life?"

"You really want to know? Ask your precious guards why they slaughtered an entire village to create seven cursed items that would place the world on the brink of destruction," Horus told him flatly.

Seeing the surprised look on their faces made almost all the crap he went through worth it. Almost.

"You're lying!" said Mana, though she didn't sound like she was absolutely sure of that.

"I was there. My brother and I watched the pharaoh's personal soldiers slaughter our friends and family. If Bastet hadn't intervened, we might not have lived."

Without warning, a loud cat like yowl was heard. A black cat with glowing silver eyes was watching the scene, it's tail whipping back and forth lazily.

Even someone as young as Mana could tell that Bastet was with them at that moment. And she was watching Horus.

* * *

Atem was curious about the boy Mana had brought back with her. He was obviously a mage, so he took it for granted that Mahado was going to take him under his wing.

He went to see the boy, who had awoken a few hours ago.

Only to find a horrified Mahado and a shaken Mana. The boy was on the bed, and he didn't look happy. Wondering why the two were so shaken, (and wanting to know more about the boy, whose eyes intrigued him) he asked Mahado how the boy was doing.

Mahado took one look at him, and in an uncharacteristic move, managed to keep his pharaoh from getting anywhere near the boy.

"What's going on?" he managed to get out.

"That boy...has absolutely _no_ love for the Royal family. Particularly anyone related to the Pharaoh. You should not get anywhere near him for now."

Atem was fifteen, and like all teenagers, when told not to do something he wanted to do it even more.

So, late that night, he managed to sneak into the infirmary and found a knife thrown very, very close to where his right ear was. The boy was wide awake and glaring.

What bothered him was the fact that he wasn't glaring at him, but his Puzzle which he inherited from his father.

"What...?"

"I know who you are, little godling, and I want nothing to do with you or your...family. If you don't want to have another knife thrown at you in a place that will leave you desperately trying to breathe, then you should leave before I really get annoyed."

The boy's tone was flat, calm and absolutely serious. He fled before the boy with the haunting green eyes threw another sharp blade at him.

* * *

It took three days before he was able to walk again. The poison had been stronger than he had anticipated.

And he was quite ready to leave. Every night, without fail, the soon to be Pharaoh Atem would peek into the room. Horus had no doubt why the boy kept sneaking into the room. He, like many others before him, had become bewitched by his eyes.

Horus was the only boy in Egypt with such green eyes. Though to be fair his brother had crimson eyes the color of blood. And albino hair.

It would be the last night he would stay in the palace, if he had any say about it.

Atem, like clockwork, came into the room. He saw Horus standing, and prepared to duck. Horus had a rather disturbing aim with his blades.

"Are you leaving?"

Horus shot him an annoyed look.

"Why do you hate me?"

"Your father slaughtered our village, and the only reason we survived was because of Bastet. If you expect me to be grateful that your people showed me some kindness, then you will have to wait a long time before I show my...gratitude," said Horus angrily.

Atem clearly didn't know about the origin of the gaudy pendant around his neck.

Bastet, who had kept sharp watch over her precious one, yawned. While she didn't like Ra's toy, even she was wary of the little godling.

With that puzzle he could easily keep her at bay long enough for Ra to show up and chase her off.

Fortunately, her chosen child had already insured that the brat wouldn't use his puzzle on him. And had scared the boy from getting too close to him.

Atem seemed surprised by that. But before he could even attempt to come closer, there was a loud blast against the castle gates. Someone had used shadow magic to attack them!

He ran outside, determined to see who was so stupid as to attack them with the Millennium Items.

Only to turn when he heard a sharp crack and a cat laughing at him. Horus of the Desert was gone.

* * *

"Explain to me again how the hell you got captured by the Pharaoh's little brat?" asked Bakura, annoyed.

"Some asshole hit me with scorpion venom. I had the bad luck of collapsing in front of her. Oh, and apparently my little nickname has made it as far as the palace."

Bakura snorted. With features as usual as bright green eyes he wasn't that surprised the palace had heard of him. It was well known that the previous Pharaoh had favored both boys and girls.

If Horus had fallen in the city he would have been snatched up to the Pharaoh's harem in a heartbeat. Bakura thanked Bastet every night for sending his brother to him.

Horus was his light in the darkness of his life. Without Horus, he would have been more cruel than even his own tales told.

Because of his brother, he only killed when he needed to, not whenever someone pissed him off. Though there were times he was sorely tempted.

* * *

Five years had passed since Horus encountered the Pharaoh. And the amethyst eyed ruler couldn't get the boy off his mind. Those emerald eyes haunted his dreams. And his exotic features would bother him.

The fact that no one could find the one who distracted them while the boy escaped annoyed him greatly.

Mahado knew exactly why the Pharaoh was so determined to capture the infamous Thief King and his Mage brother. He wanted to see Horus again.

And that was something he couldn't let happen.

Horus hated the Royal family for the destruction of Kul Elna, the village of Thieves.

It had taken some time to find the village that the boy had mentioned, and it had taken even longer to find out that he was telling the truth about who destroyed it. Which meant that someone in the Royal Palace had knowingly sentenced a hundred people to their deaths for a forbidden Ritual.

No wonder Ba-Ku-Ra and Horus hated them so much.

The only reason they had failed to capture the King of Thieves was because Bakura had done something the Pharaoh had failed to do.

He had captured the loyalty of the people through genuine acts of kindness.

And Horus, well he never attack innocent civilians and always protected the children from the cruelty of the nobles.

* * *

"Today's the day, right brother?"

"Today we raid the pharaoh's tomb and make our stand," said Bakura.

It had taken Horus a month to locate the tomb of the pharaoh who had ordered the destruction of their village. Defiling a pharaoh's tomb was tantamount to a death sentence, but he didn't deserve a peaceful afterlife in their minds.

Besides, Horus had been learning magic for years...it was time to put those skills to use.

Horus teleported them to the site using a spell he had perfected the month before. Bakura went to work. He did the thieving, Horus did the distracting and the damage.

It was a system they had worked out since Horus had a run in with the new pharaoh after the arena incident. Horus ducked as Bakura took out the traps, often stopping him to get the snakes that had been placed in a pit to let them pass. The darts that came flying out of the walls were stopped by Horus' shield. It wasn't until they came across a tablet with a shadow beast that the two actually had to work at breaking into the tomb.

"Maha Vialo! Come forth!" cried Horus.

"Diabound!" cried Bakura at the same time.

The two unleashed their Ka beasts. It was the first time Horus had ever used his true Ka beast outside of practice with his brother.

Maha Vialo was a sorcerer type beast that only grew stronger the more spells were cast on it. In addition to being able to handle almost any equip spell cast, it's natural ability allowed it to power up slightly with each spell. On it's back were two scythe like wings that could allow it to fly, if it so chose.

Daibound was a creature that grew with any being it absorbed. Horus liked it because the thing originated from the spirit of a snake, which meant he could talk it into playing pranks on his brother. The two got along great.

The creature in the tablet was the Reaper of Souls, a most potent and terrifying beast. Horus cast spells twice on his partner, and prepped it for Diabound to absorb it. It was their usual method for the stronger beasts.

Horus was powerful enough and crafty enough for him to cast spells on Maha Vialo before the other monster attacked and to wound the opponent so Bakura could come up from behind and injure it to the point that Diabound could absorb the power.

It was thanks to those tactics that they even dared to attack the tomb head on.

"Bakura, on your left!" yelled Horus.

Bakura did a duck and roll, avoiding the scythe. Horus cast another spell, and his Ka beast grew bigger and stronger. Maha Vialo struck the creature again, and this time the shriek was much louder.

"Diabound, attack!" cried Bakura.

Diabound struck again, and this time began to absorb the beast with a rapid pace. The creature's cries were met with deaf ears as Bakura and Horus checked for more traps.

"I see nothing over here and my spells tell me that there isn't anything," said Bakura. He was a passable hand at spells detecting traps.

"Same over here. Think that was the last barrier?"

"Possibly. The palace magicians are fucking lazy," said Bakura with a derisive snort. At least Horus kept improving his traps and barriers every time he learned a new trick.

When Bakura found the sarcophagus, he was half tempted to desecrate the body. Horus stopped him with an annoyed twitch.

"Don't bother. You know those things aren't air tight, so the best thing we could do is dump it in the river and let it dry out before we take it with us."

Horus knew the spells on the sarcophagus. They protected against everything imaginable...but the people who created the spells never thought to guard against water. Why would they bother, when the tomb was dry as a bone?

"So we take this stupid thing with us, poke a hole in the seal and dump it in the river? That's perfect!" cackled Bakura.

"It would ruin his body and make his after life hell. At the very least it would insure his corpse rots," said Horus with a smirk.

"You see this is why I take you with me on high stakes robberies! You come up with the best revenge ideas!"

"...I thought it was because I'm the only one among the two of us capable of taking out a Palace Priest with magic and the fact that three gods favor me?" said Horus with a quirked eyebrow.

"Details. Come on, let's give the Pharaoh a piece of our mind!" cackled Bakura.

* * *

Atem was in shock. He had just learned that his father's tomb had been vandalized and robbed. Whoever did the deed must have had a shadow mage on them to get that far in without getting killed.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside, and the guards went on alert.

The doors burst open, revealing a white haired man with blood red eyes on a horse carrying the sarcophagus of his father.

"Greetings murderers and thieves! I come bearing gifts to those who murdered my village!" said Bakura with a cackle.

Another horse came in, this time with a familiar face. Horus, the emerald eyed boy who haunted Atem's dreams, rode in on a black stallion. He came to rest next to Bakura, and his eyes were cold.

"Really brother? What have I said about melodramatics?" he asked with amusement.

"Bah, they didn't even appreciate it," said Bakura.

"Of course they wouldn't. They probably find such _common_ things beneath them," said Horus.

"YOU! How dare you desecrate the Pharaoh's tomb?!" demanded an old priest.

"Consider it the beginning of our revenge. After all, your precious _Pharaoh_ ordered the deaths of our village with no provocation or reason. All for those tacky baubles you cling to for your powers," said Horus with a derisive snort.

Several of the priests (and the lone priestess) touched their Millennium Item without thinking. The priestess actually flinched, because she could hear the howls of the souls trapped in the items from their making.

The youngest priest bearing the Rod started to unleash his Ka beast. Horus sneered at him.

"Go for it...if you don't mind your beast being absorbed by my brother's," he smirked.

The two brothers quickly took flight, having done what they came to do. The gold they pilfered was distributed to the poorer villages after making sure that it wasn't cursed.

Anything with spells on it was left in Horus' special room that even Bakura couldn't get to. Bakura had almost no head for money, which was why Horus was the one to handle the cash and goods they stole. He was rather good at it.

Bakura managed to break the Pharaoh off from the main group, while Horus continued on. It wasn't until the two met back up at the rendezvous point that Horus learned what his brother had done.

* * *

"You managed to get him to fall off a cliff? How high was it?"

"Barely three times your height. Unless he lands wrong the most it will do is keep him out of commission for a day or two," snorted Bakura.

"Something tells me Horus or Bastet would tell us if you accidentally killed that idiot. I mean really, who else other than him has that weird hairstyle?"

Bakura snorted in amusement. Horus had a point, because the current Pharaoh had the most _bizarre_ hair style and color in the land. Even his white coloring wasn't that strange, since most assumed he had been through a near death experience that prematurely whitened his hair.

"You do realize that once he's recovered that they'll probably figure out where our secondary main base is and come at us right?"

"Possibly with homicidal tendencies once they learn we dumped the real casket in the Nile River," nodded Horus sagely.

There was a reason why no one was ever stupid enough to piss off Horus. The last person who did so ended up going insane had to be taken out before he killed someone. Horus was the master of Revenge pranks and attacks. Not even Bakura was dumb enough to set off that side of his brother.


	3. Chapter 3

Horus stared. Why did these _idiots_ believe his brother had killed that priest? They wouldn't dare touch a Millennium Item with a stick unless it was to seal it away and free the souls trapped inside!

It wasn't until Bakura showed up with Diabound that he knew. Something had managed to take control of his brother...and was forcing him to wear the Item that had been taken. He went to the tablet that held Bakura's Ka beast and stared.

Diabound looked like he always did, but for some reason the spirit had been tainted. He was about to confront his brother when he sensed someone coming up from behind him. He drew his best dagger and stabbed behind him without blinking. He heard a pained gasp and found one of the little godling's priests trying to capture him. It was the fool with the Millennium Key.

Horus went to snatch the Key from the fool who would die soon anyway, since the knife went into his stomach. But the moment his hand touched the Key, he felt something painful from the center of his navel. It was excruciating!

Sensing that he wouldn't remain in Egypt much longer, Horus shouted out the incantation that would send his treasure to the Shadow Realm until he could retrieve it. It was a last ditch measure to keep thieves from touching the cache.

Maha Vialo appeared beside his partner, and nodded. He vanished, taking the large amount of gold and scrolls with him.

Horus kept a firm grip on the Key, and as the shadows whirled past him, he saw images.

It was then that he knew what was happening. Someone was forcing him back to the world he had left, and they didn't care how much pain they put him through to do it.

Horus did something most people wouldn't have the ability...or pain threshold...to do. He kept his eyes open all the way through the trip. It went against every instinct he had as a human to close his eyes against the pain. He saw new dynasties rise and fall with depressing regularity. He saw the rise in technology and magic, and half remembered words came back to him.

And the worst part of all...he saw his birth parents. Their lives and their deaths. He saw himself being left on a doorstep without so much as a by-your-leave, and his aunt throwing him into the cupboard. He saw himself, a barely six year old boy falling into the same time stream.

The two timelines gaze met, and Horus remembered everything he had forgotten in nearly fifteen years. The child that was was given a precious gift. The gift of language and body memory.

It actually explained a lot about how he was able to survive in the desert when he first fell on his brother. And how he knew the old tongue without having ever spoken it before.

* * *

Horus landed painfully on cold stone, before a tablet he recognized without being told. The man before him wearing the Key was very, very shocked at his appearance.

"It can't be... The Dark Mage of the Desert?" he whispered in disbelief.

Horus looked up and saw his hand on the Key. He jerked it back as if stung by lightning.

"What...What year is it?" he rasped. He knew he had been screaming throughout the forced trip. His throat had almost lost it's ability to speak from the soundless scream.

The strongest of the Tomb Keepers glared at him, before answering.

"It's five thousand years into the future...you should not be here."

"What _specific_ year is it Tomb Keeper?!" said Horus.

"19XX," he said flatly, not understanding why it was so important.

"Fuck! Nine years... It's nine years since Bastet claimed me!" said Horus in shock.

"What are you talking about, Thief?" asked the Tomb Keeper. (If you haven't guessed by yet, Horus is with Shaadi.)

Horus sat down painfully, his legs unable to hold his weight.

"Bastet...she claimed me and threw me into the past to meet with my brother. If she hadn't, I never would have lived," said Horus.

Horus knew that he couldn't survive outside the chamber without recovering first. He looked at Shaadi and said "Can we call a temporary truce until we can figure out what we can do to prevent the Pharaoh from finding out I'm here?"

"The Pharaoh has only recently awoken in the body of a child shorter than he was in life. It is unlikely he would even recognize you to begin with," said Shaadi.

"As comforting as that is, we still have a problem. Someone _forcefully_ dragged me from 5,000 years in the past back into modern times...which hurt like a bitch, by the way...and chances are good they may try to take the Millennium Items."

"What do you have in mind, Thief Mage?"

"A truce. In exchange for letting me hold the Key, which I won by right of combat by killing the previous holder, you leave me be. I will neither help nor hinder the Pharaoh."

"What could possibly convince me that you would keep your word?" asked Shaadi. He wasn't about to give the Key up to someone known to hate the Pharaoh.

"Simple. My brother wasn't the one who attacked the Pharaoh in the last battle. Someone or some_thing_ took control of his body. And at this point I get the feeling both of our objectives are the same Keeper. We both want the Millennium Items laid to rest once and for all."

Shaadi seemed surprised. Horus gave him a blank look.

"Honestly Keeper, did you really think my brother and I were trying to collect the Items solely for revenge or power?"

"To be blunt, yes. Neither of you held any love for the Royal family and seemed rather determined to bring it crashing down."

"As amusing as it would be to see that happen, our first and main goal was to retrieve the Items and lay them to rest. We were there when they were made, Keeper. We don't want our family and friends to suffer in that cursed form any longer than they have to."

Shaadi's eyes widened. He was unaware of that particular fact. Though it explained much.

"In any case, we got our revenge on the Pharaoh who ordered the destruction of the village already."

"You said your brother was more interested in retrieving the Items so they could be laid to rest," said Shaadi.

"The one who sealed them away for 5,000 years _wasn't_ the one who ordered the Items to be created. It was his _FATHER_ who ordered the priests to create the Items."

"What have you done Thief?" asked Shaadi.

"We only poked a hole in the sarcophagus and dumped it in the river. Having to suffer through an eternity with a moldy corpse is payment enough," shrugged Horus.

Shaadi stared at him.

"You actually broke into his tomb, poked a hole through countless spells designed to prevent it from opening, and dumped it in the river?"

"Shaadi, have you ever actually _looked_ at those spells? There is a weak spot at the base of the damn coffin, which is made of _wood _I might add, and there was nothing about preventing water damage in any of the inscriptions."

Shaadi went over what he knew of the burial rituals, and reluctantly admitted the Insane mage had a valid point.

He looked at the boy in the eye and said "Do you swear on your Ka that you will not harm the Pharaoh?"

"All I care about at this point is rescuing my brother. The Pharaoh is the last thing I want to deal with at this point. If he's still around once the Items are gone, then I'll consider what to do with him. Which is why I said I would neither help nor hinder him," said Horus.

"Then we have an accord, Thief. You may reclaim the Key, since it is yours by right of combat. You may also stay the night, but I want you gone by noon," said Shaadi. Say what you will of the Thief brothers, but they kept their word.

* * *

It took Horus a good five hours to re-acclimate himself in the present era. And the only thing he could think of was that he missed the past already. The present was far too loud for his tastes.

Though at least he didn't look like a total idiot. Thanks in part to his natural ability to understand most languages if he just sat still and listened, he could now speak almost perfect Arabic along with his former native tongue, English.

That didn't mean he had to like speaking in a tongue that he had forgotten.

He followed his instincts, sensing mages heading towards specific places. This was how he found himself close to a bank. He grinned. While he didn't feel like robbing goblins (he knew what they were. Any decent mage who had been in contact with the shadow realm could tell you they were goblins. Well, that and he had already robbed a few wizards on the way there) he did want to know whether he could get some more cash or at least a way to exchange it for whatever currency they used in present day Egypt.

"Can I help you?" asked the bored goblin.

"Where do I exchange currency, and how much would it cost to open a deposit account?" he asked bluntly.

The goblin took a long look at him and said "You're a thief aren't you?"

Horus stared at him bluntly and replied "Only a fool would try to rob the people who can help him blend in. Some idiot dragged me through time, and now I have to adjust back into the world. Besides, I already robbed a couple of people on the way here, so that itch has already been taken care of."

The goblin blinked.

"Fair enough. The exchange line is three goblins that way, and if you want to open a vault you can always go to the claims office to see if you have an account already open."

"Thank you," said Horus, and he handed the goblin ten of the gold coins he nicked from the oblivious wizards. The goblin gave him a toothy grin, pleased by the gold. Clearly this boy knew the ways of the goblin clans.

Paying someone who had helped you was always a good way to earn their favor. Even if the gold was stolen from a wizard.

Once he was well stocked on modern currency, he asked where the claims office was. Soon he was staring down a rather bored goblin who was watching a potion.

Horus barely tolerated making potions. Bakura was always the one who had the talent. Horus was passable at best.

He dropped three blood drops into the small bowl, and then poured it onto the parchment. The ink lit up and then moved as if it had a mind of it's own.

When it stopped, he had to blink twice before he realized what he was seeing.

He still had living family...and they were all descended from _him_. Strangely, this wasn't nearly as surprising as one would think, since the two brothers often frequented brothels a few weeks after their big scores.

There were three names, one of which indicated that the relation was through blood adoption.

_Marik Ishtar_

_Isis Istar_

_**Rashid Ishtar**_

The goblins eyes were on another name entirely.

He swore in goblintongue, as he said "You're the missing Potter heir?!"

"Huh?"

Horus had honestly forgotten about his birth name. He liked the name Horus better than whatever his parents had called him.

"You," the goblin pointed at him, "Are the missing heir to the Potter fortune...and the Boy-who-lived. Otherwise the parchment wouldn't say Lily and James Potter. How the hell did you end up in Egypt?"

"Bastet claimed me, threw me a few thousand years in Egypt's past, and then some idiot had the bright idea of dragging my ass back by force. I had my hand on a rather powerful magic item at the time, so I ended up here instead of whatever ritual circle they used."

"Bastet...as in the Cat Goddess herself?" asked the goblin, paling.

"The same. I have three gods interested in me, one of which is the god of Chaos himself. Now who the hell is this Harry Potter and why should I care about him?" he asked pleasantly.

"Harry James Potter...the last child of the house of Potter and the boy-who-lived. He is supposedly 15 this year, and for the past four years has been missing from the school his parents went to when it became clear that he wasn't present for the sorting ceremony when he turned eleven. According to the magical population, he is known as the boy-who-lived because he defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort when he was barely a year and a half old."

"And I should care about him...why?"

"If you are in fact Harry Potter, then you have a claim on the largest vault in Gringotts, and are the richest man in Europe. If the Ministry learns where you are, they'll do anything in their power to get you under their thumb."

"In short, avoid Europe unless I want to deal with idiots," said Horus amused.

The goblin grinned.

"Indeed."

"Now, about these three. Is there any way I can contact them?" he asked, pointing to the three names under his.

"The Ishtar clan has long been a family of mages who guard the tombs of the kings. Though this does explain why we kept getting some of the Potter family magic from them... If you wish to contact them, you can either try to speak to Isis, or you can go directly to their underground catacombs and try to locate Marik."

"I get the feeling Marik would be easier. Besides, I have something that would interest them more than a missing ancestor who is still alive," grinned Horus.

"You might want to change your name. Horus isn't nearly as common these days," advised the goblin.

"Seth, then. Knowing that one, it would probably amuse him greatly."

"Very well, we shall reopen the vault under the name Seth then. That should keep the Ministry off your back until they figure out who you are. It doesn't hurt that you are older than you should be," said the goblin.

"Why are you so helpful anyway? From what I remember of goblins you barely tolerate humans."

"You're going to be pissing off the Headmaster of Hogwarts, thwarting that idiotic Ministry, and undermining Europe's largest source of business. Plus there's the fact that you look the goblins in the eye and tip very well for a human. So long as you don't try to steal from us, we'll keep your secret," shrugged the goblin.

"How about this. I swear not to try and steal from the goblin clans as long as this information is keep secret. Besides, it's easier to steal from those pathetic wizards outside than it is from a goblin," said Seth.

"Deal."

* * *

Isis didn't know why, but when the Tauk suddenly started having kittens over something she knew without a doubt that the game had changed...and that a very powerful player had just entered the game of shadows. The question she had was which role did he play?

She nearly jumped when Shaadi appeared. He was missing an Item.

"What do you want Protector?" she asked bluntly. She did _not_ like him. He gave her the creeps.

"A new player has entered the shadows. However he has agreed to remain neutral against the Pharaoh," said Shaadi tonelessly.

"Who is he?"

"The most powerful Mage in the Kingdom... Horus of the Desert. Though something tells me your brother Marik will meet him before you do. He has reclaimed the Key."

Isis paled. It was bad enough her brother had access to an insane alter ego who wanted to kill the Pharaoh. But to add the infamous Horus of the Desert into the mix? That was just asking for trouble.

"Why is he here? I wasn't aware he had been reincarnated with the Thief King!"

"He wasn't. According to him some fool brought him straight from the past to the present... though from what he has said, he originally came from this time period," said Shaadi.

"How bad is he?"

"He hates the Pharaoh, and from what I recall he considers the Thief his brother. He has also admitted to desecrating the Pharaoh's father's sarcophagus...though even I wasn't aware of such a glaring problem with the coffin's spells," admitted Shaadi.

"Huh?"

"He said he poked a hole in the bottom of the sarcophagus and dumped it in the river as revenge for something the former Pharaoh did to his village," said Shaadi waving his hand like it wasn't important.

"So why have you come to tell me now?" she asked.

"Because he happens to have reclaimed the Key which he won by right of conquest. It recognizes _him_ as it's master now."

"How dangerous is he?" she asked.

"He has agreed to not interfere. Beyond that, anger him at your own peril," said Shaadi blandly.

Isis watched as he left, and snorted.

"Jerk."


	4. Chapter 4

Marik blinked and stared at the man before him. He had heard of this man before, but there weren't any reliable records or tablets aside from a really, really odd one that the Nameless Pharaoh had made about someone he had meet only once. Apparently the guy had a crush on the one person in Ancient Egypt who not only wouldn't give him the time of day, but also threw daggers rather close to him simply for entering the same room.

"So...You're the real Horus of the Desert?" asked Marik.

"I'm Horus...and according to that blood test administered by the goblin clans I happen to be your ancestor. Don't ask me how that happened, because I have no clue," admitted Horus.

"How the hell did you end up in this time? And why do you look so at ease?!"

"Long story short, Bastet threw me into the past where I fell on the Thief King, and right when things were about to go to hell some idiot dragged me back while I had my hand on this damn Key. I haven't been back in this particular time period for nine years," said Horus blandly.

"So what should I call you?"

"Worked it out with the goblins. Just call me Seth, or Set if you want. Better than having my name mangled by idiots," said Seth.

"Why are you in the catacombs anyway? Shouldn't you be terrorizing the Pharaoh?"

"I agreed to a truce with the annoying Keeper who had two Items. I'm a neutral party and won't help or hinder that two bit hack. At least _I _don't rely on my Item to summon the shadows," snorted Seth.

Marik grinned.

"Wait, how the hell are you my ancestor?"

"Brothels. No idea which one spawned your lineage, but my brother and I hit the brothels rather frequently between heists."

Marik facepalmed. His great and powerful bloodline was from the Thief King's powerful brother hitting a brothel and the girl not losing the child?

"Though to be fair that does mean the Ishtar clan, or to be more specific you and your siblings, do stand to inherit the largest gold cache in Europe," said Seth helpfully.

"How? And why Europe?"

"I'm originally British, and apparently my father was some sort of Lord there. I didn't bother to learn the full details and to be fair I could care less when the people there are absolute idiots," shrugged Seth.

"What now?"

"Now? Now we go have some fun! By the way, is your sister uptight or something?"

"Very. Overprotective and a know-it-all. She took to the Tomb Keeper thing more than me."

"And you are the type of brother who causes her to go gray prematurely, correct?"

"Yup."

"Ex-cellent. Come minion, we have much chaos to cause and not a lot of time before she catches us," said Seth, throwing his arm around Marik's shoulder.

"Why am I the minion? I lead a large gang of thugs!" griped Marik.

"Seniority. Besides what good is a gang of thugs if they can't duel to save their own ass?"

"...I hate it when you make a point," said Marik.

* * *

Isis' first impression of her ancestor was that he was a bad influence on her brother. He managed to get Marik drunk off his ass!

Seth took one look at her face and winced.

"Ow... Ra is too loud..." he grumbled.

"Dude, how can the sun be too loud?" groaned Marik.

"Easy. I'm a night owl. Ra likes to yell at me in the mornings," said Seth.

"And you! What do you have to say for yourself!" she barked at Seth, who winced.

"If you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to drink. Be grateful I didn't try to find a strip club," retorted Seth.

Marik winced at the reminder of his father's death...and said nothing.

"But before that... Dharc! You got any hangover remedy left?" Seth asked.

To the shock of both siblings, a boy with a staff appeared and snickered at Seth's predicament.

"It's been 5,000 years. Do you really think the life expectancy covers that long? And what name do we call you in this time anyway?" asked Dharc amused.

"Call me Seth. It's better than having my real name mangled by the idiots in Europe. And I meant have you swiped any from that idiot priest. I know he goes on drinking binges with the other magicians because of that apprentice of his," said Seth.

Dharc snickered and then brought out a hangover remedy from the last time the Dark Magician Girl had him swipe it as a prank.

"Two hangover remedies for the fools who drank too much!" he said cheerfully.

The two fools winced at the loud voice, but drank it anyway.

Marik looked at Seth with bleary eyes.

"Why can't you brew your own?" he asked.

"I hate potions. I was the diplomat and treasurer of the two of us. My brother was the potions master and attack master. He couldn't count to save his life," said Seth blandly.

"What exactly is your plan?" demanded Isis.

Seth looked at his minion and asked "Is she always this crabby?"

"Yes. She seems to think it's a mandatory thing since she's the oldest next to Rashid, who's adopted," said Marik annoyed.

"Right. Are you up to a strategic escape?"

"And avoid her lectures? Hell yes!"

Seth promptly grabbed Marik, made an escape portal underneath them, and bolted. Isis' mouth was open and shut from the fact that they had just ditched her. Dharc just laughed.

"Dear lord...I have another Marik on my hands don't I?" asked Isis faintly.

"Actually he was always the more mature of the two. His brother just liked to kill people and then steal their wallets. If you give him something to read and don't ask about the Nameless Pharaoh he might actually listen to you. Also, don't try to wake him up before noon. He hates that," said Dharc.

"How do you know all that?"

"Most consistent summoner. Plus he sometimes let me and my family out to have a party at his expense. So, he's your ancestor eh?"

"According to the goblin administered blood test, yes," said Isis.

"Could be worse. You could be related to the Dark Lord over in Europe," said Dharc.

"I'm related to a thief. How is that not worse?"

"...You could be related to the idiot who killed his village and made the Items out of the still cooling bodies of his family?"

"What?"

"You didn't know? That's why the two have such a problem with the Nameless Pharaoh in the first place. His uncle created the Items from the still cooling bodies of their village, and they happened to witness the entire thing. They got revenge on the father, but the fact that he wears it and never asked where the power comes from just annoyed the hell out of them," shrugged Dharc.

* * *

"Dude, you are officially my favorite ancestor!" said Marik.

"Because I'm fun?"

"No, because you didn't think twice about ditching that stick in the mud Isis!"

"I've lived with only my brother in the middle of the desert, and we haven't had any parental supervision for most of our lives. What the hell makes you think I would listen anyway? Let's see...where the hell is that blasted room I set up?"

"What room?"

"All the pilfered treasure. You really think I would leave my loot in the physical realm where any idiot could find it and rob me?" asked Seth.

Marik blinked. Come to think of it, there never was any real concrete evidence of what happened to the Thief King's loot, and from what records said of his habits, there was quite a lot. And most of the sudden increase of funds came from other pyramids.

"Okay, I'll bite. Exactly _how_ much loot do you actually have?" asked Marik.

Seth paused then turned to look at him.

"First things first. Are you possibly insane enough to rob people blind without a second thought?"

"I have a second more murderous personality that killed my father. What do you think?"

"Do you have any love for the Nameless Pharaoh or his court?"

"It's because of him that I was forced to live underground and have this stupid tattoo on my back _without_ painkillers!"

"Can you use magic, like sharp pointy things to throw at people and have a general disregard of authority figures?"

"Have you seen my sister? Why would I want to listen to people like her?! And as for magic, I can speak to snakes, but I'm not very good at it. As for the sharp pointy objects..."

Marik turned the Rod into it's dagger form, with a manic gleam in his eye. Seth nodded appreciatively.

"Alright, you can come see the loot. My brother and I don't like showing it off like the other rogues, because that opens up attempts to steal it. Had to put you through a small test before you could join our little group."

"Understandable," said Marik.

"Oh to Anubis with this! Maha Vialo! Where did I put that pocket dimension that I left in the Shadow Realm!" yelled Seth.

Marik was surprised that Maha Vialo appeared amused.

"It's good to see you again partner. As for the loot, it's still around here. You placed it right before the opening to the summons realm so we could appear and add to it."

Seth snapped his fingers.

"Thank you for reminding me. How much have you added anyway?"

"Before the Pharaoh sealed the realm off? Without you to regulate what we could and couldn't steal, we raided three tombs and fifty nobles. So about half as much as it originally had," admitted Maha Vialo.

"Yet another reason to hate the prick. Before I forget, Marik, this is my Ka beast. Maha Vialo, this is Marik, my present day descendant who wouldn't be alive if Bastet hadn't thrown me into the past."

"I know. Why do you think he survived? Me and the other monsters who knew you kept an eye on his ancestor when we became aware that one of the women you knew had a child with green eyes. As for the goddess, we got the gist when you were pulled back."

"Ah, good. I don't have to explain that then. Anyway, let's see the loot!" said Seth.

* * *

Marik stared. There was no other word for it. He was in a pocket dimension filled with wall to wall _gold_ and he had been lead there by an ancestor who was supposed to be from _his_ end of the time lines.

"You are officially my favorite family member...next to Rashid," said Marik.

"He the adopted one?"

"Yup."

"Is he a wet blanket like Isis?"

"Nope. He only tries to discourage my less than acceptable behavior, but he mostly tries to keep my darker personality in check."

"Perfect! We have a built in accomplice to our possibly illegal activities!" crowed Seth.

Marik cackled and he could sense his darker self crow in agreement. Clearly Seth was one of the very rare people Malik wouldn't kill or mind control on sight.

"Exactly how much gold is in here?" asked Marik.

"Don't know, don't care. All I know is that the accumulation is the best part! Besides, with the age of these beauties, collectors will pay through the nose just for a few gold coins~!" said Seth.

"Do you mean to say that..."

"You and your clan are officially set for life, since from what I know of Keepers you wouldn't dare touch the gold left for the Nameless Pharaoh?" said Seth.

"Would you be offended if I started calling you big brother in public?" asked Marik with starry eyes.

"Not at all. The Thief King wasn't my brother by blood, but we killed anyone who thought it actually mattered to us," said Seth amused.

Seth packed a small bag of gold coins, and then went to find a few buyers. He also packed a larger bag of copper ones, which he had thousands of. He never really liked them that much.

* * *

By the end of the month, Seth had enough cash to rival what he had in his goblin protected vault. As a show of good faith, he even bought Marik the motorcycle he had his eye on...but Isis refused to let him get.

Needless to say Isis hit the alcohol rather heavily. Since Seth was in fact their ancestor, the Keepers reluctantly allowed him to remain in the catacombs since he honestly had no use for the Pharaoh's gold. And he had repeatedly told those who thought he would steal the Items that his only interest was to permanently lay them to rest, since the souls of those who were used to create them were stuck until then.

Rashid rather liked him mostly because with Seth around, Malik wasn't that inclined to come out. And Seth had already demonstrated rather painfully that should Malik try to get out of control (which happened only _once_ when Seth had arrived, and Malik quickly learned why he was feared by the Palace mages) he would step in and forcefully put the alter ego back in line. That was the only reason Isis tolerated his presence. Though she was rather dismayed to learn that Seth not only wouldn't listen to her (Marik did, barely) but he would undermine her authority if he felt it necessary.

Seth had actually taken one look at the large gang of Death Eater wannabes and snorted. Malik would have been offended had Seth not pointed out rather loudly that the dark colored cloaks and nasty attitudes were so cliché it wasn't even funny.

About the only true excitement the Tomb Keepers had with Seth having more or less better success than Isis did in keeping Marik from trying to kill people was the arrival of an owl in the middle of July. Seth had taken one look at the name and burned it (and nearly killed the poor owl) before anyone even touched the letter. This was proceeded with Seth vanishing without warning while surfing the internet (another thing that gave Isis headaches, because _Malik_ couldn't use the computer without nearly breaking it, so how the hell did an ancient mage like Seth pull it off so easily?!) only to reappear hours later cursing in Ancient Egyptian about old men and their meddling rituals.

Isis wisely didn't ask what that was about.

It wasn't until Malik started to act out more that Seth took an active interest in him. Apparently he wanted to confront the Pharaoh directly.

"I'll come with you, but don't expect me to help you. My agreement with that nuisance Shaadi prevents active interference when it comes to that pest," said Seth flatly.

All of this had been triggered by an article which had Seth cursing loudly at the fact that apparently the Pharaoh had been reincarnated into some poor kid who likely didn't know anything about the spirit possessing him.


	5. Chapter 5

Seth went to Japan ahead of Marik, if only to scout out the competition they were likely to face. He had left a month before they had planned to crash a tournament the reincarnation of the High Priest, who Seth vaguely remembered being the cousin of the Nameless Pharaoh through the father, was hosting. The only thing he could think of was that this Seto Kaiba clearly had Dragon Envy. The boy practically idolized Kisara, the only person he knew of who _had_ the Blue Eyes White Dragon as a Ka beast.

Seth had decided to be the security for the only tablet that still _had_ a picture of the Nameless Pharaoh. What Seth never told Isis was that he _knew_ the name, he just didn't like to use it. Hell, he knew the true name of his brother, but he didn't use it very often.

Seto Kaiba came to see the tablet, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"So you're that pain in the ass' reincarnation. You seem to be more tolerable to be around than he was," said Seth.

"And you are...?"

"I go by Seth these days to avoid people from mangling my real name. As for who I am, I happen to be someone who actually remembers these dried up fossils."

"And I should care why?" asked Kaiba.

"Do you want the one you'll believe, or the one Isis will most likely give you that is wordy and extremely annoying to people who don't believe in magic?"

"The first, if you don't mind."

"Long story short, because of your past life and the fact that you want to actually duel the pipsqueak, you and your brother will be drawn into increasingly bizarre and strange events. This in turn will probably cause your younger brother to be kidnapped frequently for no other reason than the fact that you associate with this Muto kid, even if you are more his rival than anything else."

"Are you telling me that Mokuba will be put into danger because of Muto?" said Seto.

"That's the gist of it. I can tell you know how to protect yourself at least, but because of Muto, the crazies and whack jobs with magic will be coming after you simply because of a past you probably don't even believe in. And that, by extension of how much you care about Mokuba, means they _will_ target him to get to you," said Seth flatly.

"Is there any way to avoid it?"

"Not if you want to deal with permanently losing your title to a runt who barely rises above four feet and his annoying as hell alter ego," said Seth cheerfully.

"Alter ego?" said Kaiba, his eyebrow twitching.

"The brat, from what I understand, gains several inches every time he duels seriously. Do I really need to elaborate beyond that?" asked Seth.

"...I had really hoped that was only my imagination. What other explanation was I going to get?" asked Kaiba out of morbid curiosity.

"It's your destiny and all that crap. Knowing Isis she would have tried to tell you all about your past self and how you _had_ to believe it. Personally I find the speech a little too dry and boring. Besides, I get the feeling you would rather not believe in magic at the moment," said Seth.

"And suddenly I find your explanation much easier to believe," said Kaiba.

"Your best bet to keep your brother safe is to hire a bodyguard who knows magic or is at least familiar with dealing with mages," said Seth.

Kaiba sighed. At least someone had bothered to warn him about the dangers. He noted the knives that Seth carried with ease.

"You wouldn't happen to be up for a bit of guarding would you?" he asked tiredly.

"Would I have to deal with the midget directly?" Seth asked.

"Not unless you want to. I don't want my brother to have to deal with crazies if I can prevent it," said Kaiba.

"As long as Muto keeps his distance, sure. I can't stand the Pharaoh...guy was a real pest. But I will have to wait for Isis," said Seth.

* * *

Isis was a bit miffed that Seth told Kaiba exactly what he would be dealing with without once bringing up the fact that Kaiba had magic. She had hoped his sense of duty towards the Pharaoh from his past life would be kindled now, but clearly Seth had read the boy's personality better than she had. Seto Kaiba had no love for Yugi Muto beyond his interest as a rival, and was more interested in keeping his younger brother safe.

At least now Seth would be out of her hair for a while.

Mokuba quickly found that he liked Seth, if only because he was more interesting that his brother. Seth genuinely liked children, so the bodyguard thing didn't bother him in the least. And this way he could keep an eye out for his brother's reincarnation without having to deal with the Pharaoh directly.

Mokuba often dragged him into playing a rather odd board game with him, not that Seth minded. He was rather bored. And he was already lasting at the position longer than any of the other people had.

When asked by Kaiba why he was able to last so long, Seth admitted he was rather quick to stab anyone who tried to kidnap Mokuba.

"Anyone stupid enough to try and kidnap a kid is susceptible to being stabbed by me. I don't tolerate children being hurt in my presence."

* * *

When Kaiba did create the tournament Isis wanted (in exchange for the card she wanted Marik to keep his hands off of) Seth managed to get in on it.

Kaiba kept Obelisk, but Seth had his own rare cards. The only real issue he had was transforming the summons and spells into cards. That turned out to be a bigger pain than he anticipated. Eventually he broke down and went online to buy the cards he wanted. He didn't feel like buying useless booster packs and getting cards he had no use for.

Since he didn't want to get into trouble with his 'employer' Seth stuck close to Mokuba and trounced anyone foolish enough to duel him. Mokuba was definitely surprised by the theme of the deck itself.

"Charmers, really? Most people can't keep a theme deck like that, and the most powerful combo you have are the ones with Maha Vialo," said Mokuba.

"Maha Vialo can be a very powerful ally if you play him right, and he happens to be my Ka beast. In any event, Dharc and his family have always been good friends of mine, so it's only natural I use them to beat fools after my cards."

"If you say so. In any event, who were those guys in the tacky cloaks?" asked Mokuba.

Mokuba had noted an odd increase in people wearing really tacky cloaks, but had decided not to mention anything.

"Them? Probably Ghouls sent by my little brother to attack the Pharaoh. Though knowing Malik he won't bother you once he hears you're under my protection. In any event, I think we should head this way for a bit so I can pick up a card that I really don't want Yugi to get his hands on," said Seth.

"What card is that?"

"One my brother got his hands on, but I never took the time to swipe from him."

Two hours and one duel later, Seth barely managed to beat the Pharaoh to the god card known as Slifer the Sky Dragon. No way in Set's name was he allowing the Pharaoh access to a God Card! He was bad enough with the Puzzle.

Suddenly Seth froze. He felt the presence of someone he had tried to look for but never found.

He turned...and saw a shock of white hair and reddish brown eyes. The boy wore a familiar Ring which the last time he saw was on the neck of his brother. Mokuba noted his tension, but said nothing.

Seth fixed his features so as not to frighten the boy and decided to make the first move. He wasn't a coward.

"Hello. I believe we've met somewhere before, but I can't seem to recall where."

The boy look startled, but a large flicker of recognition came across his features.

"Strange, I feel like I know you, but I can't recall from where," said the boy. His eyes drifted to an odd looking scar on his head, saw the emerald green eyes and black hair, and something else clicked.

"I would say you were Harry Potter, but from what I know of him from the books he's supposed to be my age," said the boy aloud.

Seth chuckled.

"I go by the name Seth. It's either that or have my actual name mangled beyond recognition. And you are...?"

"Bakura Ryou. Um, I need to get going. Perhaps we can figure this out later?"

"Sure. Why not."

Mokuba waited until Ryou left, before he pounced on Seth.

"So, how do you know Ryou-kun?"

"I don't know him, per se, but I know the Ring he wears around his neck. If he isn't the reincarnation of my brother, I'll eat my deck," said Seth flatly.

"How could you tell?"

"The only person I know what that aura is my brother, and he happens to have white hair like Ryou. Plus there's the fact that his name happens to be very close to his."

"Your brother was named Ryou?"

"No, his name is Ba-Ku-Ra or his last name was anyway. He practically raised me ever since I fell on top of him in the middle of the desert," said Seth ruefully.

"You...fell on him? I so have to hear this!" said Mokuba with a grin.

Seth grinned as well, and told Mokuba about how the goddess Bastet, who ruled over Cats, Lower Egypt as well as the sun and moon, grabbed him from his family (though he called them that very reluctantly) home and dropped him in the middle of the desert right on top of his brother. Mokuba was laughing himself to tears when he learned why Bakura even kept him after being dropped on top of him. The fact that Seth was a bloodthirsty thief who had no issues with killing or maiming people didn't bother him in the least. Seto liked him well enough, and that was all the endorsement Mokuba needed to trust him. Very few people could earn Seto Kaiba's respect and trust in less than two meetings. Let alone be allowed to guard Mokuba, who he prized just slightly above his precious Blue Eyes cards.

"Well, since our day has been so profitable, how about we see how far you've come as a shadow mage?" suggested Seth.

"Whoohoo!"

Seth had, out of boredom mostly, begun to teach Mokuba how to use shadow magic like he could. Most people who had their soul literally taken from their bodies or had other trauma could use it. But very, very few had the capacity to use natural magic along with shadows.

Mokuba was one of those select few, which was why Seth had decided to teach him as his apprentice. He had kept all the scrolls from his days first learning magic, so the only issue was translating them for the boy.

Mokuba, unlike his brother, was all for learning magic. And unfortunately for Seto Kaiba, Seth was all too willing to teach the subject...and give Mokuba something to blackmail his brother with. Seth knew that dragons were real, but he didn't know where they were. Possibly under the control of the same people who tried to kidnap him twice.

It was with great pleasure that Seth destroyed any memories of the ritual from the old man and his accomplices, and a little shadow blast destroyed the book which he had found it with. Now he had to find Seth the old fashioned way, by actually looking for him.

* * *

Ryou was rather nervous, though why he couldn't say. All he knew was that the man who looked far too much like the missing boy-who-lived seemed more than familiar to him and he didn't know why.

Potter was supposed to be around his age, whereas the person who approached him was either nearing or in his twenties. A few months age difference was explainable, four or five years wasn't.

He took a sip of his Earl Gray (a rather poor attempt, but it was better than nothing) when someone casually sat across from him. It was the man from earlier.

Ryou didn't know what to say. What could you say to someone who gave you a bad case of deja vu?

"I'll get straight to the point. I have a good idea why you found me familiar...and I know about the spirit inside that Ring of yours," said Seth.

"Who are you, really? Why do I feel like I know you?"

"My name, back when we knew each other very well, is Horus. My old title was Horus of the Desert. As for why you felt like you knew me, that is rather simple. You, Ryou Bakura, are the reincarnation of my brother, who happens to be the King of Thieves back when the Items were still new."

Ryou's eyes widened. This...actually explained a lot. The name Horus brought a lot of memories that most certainly weren't his, but at the same time felt familiar.

"What can you tell me about the Ring?"

"It's cursed, for one thing. All the Items are, some more strongly than others. I assume that there is a spirit inside yours, correct?"

Before Ryou could answer him, he felt the spirit inside wake up. Clearly he took an interest in someone who thought they knew more about the Ring than he did. Ryou couldn't stop the dark spirit from taking over, though it did surprise him that Seth...or Horus, as he was once called...merely raised an eyebrow at the sudden change.

"I was afraid of this. Tell me, Ba-Ku-Ra, what do you remember of your past?" asked Seth.

"More that you do brat," sneered Bakura.

Ryou was the only one to notice the odd inflections Seth made of the name. It was the same name, only it sounded quiet different. From what he could tell that was a deliberate act on Seth's part.

"Oh? Then what is your real name?" asked Seth.

"My name is Bakura. What of it?"

"Your true name, not the one you are currently saddled with," said Seth impatiently.

"My name has been and always will be Bakura, brat," sneered the spirit.

"Your name is not Ba-Ku-Ra. That is merely a nickname that you have used to protect yourself. I know your name, Spirit. You are the Thief King of Kul Elna, Akefia Ba-Ku-Ra. You of all people should recognize me, even after five thousand years," said Seth calmly, but firmly.

Bakura stared at him. The name...it sounded so familiar. He stared at Seth rather hard, as if that could discern why the brat felt like a long lost friend or brother.

"How...How do I know you?" he demanded.

"You know very well who I am, Ba-Ku-Ra. Just as I know that had you retained your true memories, you never would have touched the Ring's powers, let alone used them so flagrantly. Clearly someone is suppressing your true self if you wear that accursed trinket," said Seth.

Bakura put his hand to his head. He could feel memories attempting to come forth, but something was deliberately trying to keep that from happening.

"Why? Why can't I remember? And why do you care about me?" he asked, sounding lost.

"Something...took possession of you all those millennia ago. I have an idea what, but I was never able to prove it before some idiot dragged me through the time stream to this age. As for why I care... Why did you care about a waif who crashed into you before you were to steal for your family all those years ago?" asked Seth.

Bakura could feel those memories. It was on the tip of his tongue. He could vaguely remember a painful crash...and a boy with green eyes and trusting gaze. A name came to his mind, and without questioning why he seized it before it could be taken away again.

"Ho...rus...?" said Bakura.

Seth smiled.

"So you do remember. Can you remember who I am?" he asked. This was better than he had hoped. Then again, Ba-Ku-Ra was the closest family he had ever had.

"You're...my little brother..." said Bakura.

Abruptly, Ryou retook control. He seemed rather startled by that fact.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" he asked. Normally he didn't curse but this definitely warranted it.

"I thought that accent was familiar. As for what just happened, someone has been tampering with the memories of Ba-Ku-Ra. That's the only possible explanation as to why he had such trouble remembering me."

"Why would he remember you?" asked Ryou, clearly out of his comfort zone.

"Because back when he was alive, I happened to be his younger brother," replied Seth, taking a sip of his tea. He grimaced.

"This is not proper tea. Hold on a bit while we go someplace where we can find a proper cup."

And with that, Seth sent the both of them through the Shadow Realm to a small cafe in London. Ryou's eyes were as wide as they could get.

"How...?!"

"I suppose a proper explanation is in order...but first, Waiter, can I have two earl grays?" said Seth.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryou stared at the scenery in shock. How had he gotten to London like this?

The moment Seth took a drink of the tea, after adding a few sugar cubes to it, he smiled.

"Much better. The Japanese have their way with fish, but when it comes to tea the British are by far better."

"How...?"

"How are we in London when we were just in Domino?" asked Seth.

Ryou nodded numbly.

"That, Ryou-kun, was magic."

"That wasn't magic! It didn't feel like apparition or a port key!"

"Ah, so you're familiar with modern magic. Long story short, that wasn't modern travel," said Seth, drinking his tea calmly.

Ryou decided to follow his example, and once he drank some proper earl gray he started to relax, if only slightly. It was hard to be tense around Seth, for some reason.

"I am a mage."

"You're a wizard? How did you do that without a wand?" asked Ryou.

"No, I am not a paltry wizard. Wizards, are weak, idiotic people who cling a little too strongly to the middle ages," said Seth flatly.

"But you just said..."

"What I said was that I am a mage. Mages and wizards are two entirely different types of magic users. Wizards, by and large, rely entirely on their wands and are helpless without them magic wise. It is extremely rare to find one who can perform without a wand. Mages are an entirely different kettle of fish," said Seth.

"What is the real difference?"

"Mages...can use true magic. Summoning creatures from the Shadow Realm for example is one of the most basic of all magics, though thanks to that idiot Pharaoh the art has been sealed. We can conjure solid items, transform into any animal we wish, stop time... But the training takes much longer, and the necessary level of magical potential is beyond ridiculous in this day and age," said Seth.

He took a long sip, finishing his tea.

"To be blunt, becoming a mage is almost impossible these days, because the Ministry or whatever the hell it's called, has made most of the arts that are required illegal. All the restrictions they have in place is making it harder and harder for those with real power to be trained properly. In a few generations even wizards will become rare," said Seth.

Ryou finished his cup.

"I'm more interested in how you knew the spirit. According to you, you're from the same time period as he is...so how is it that you're completely at ease in the present?"

"Simple. I'm originally from this age. Bastet threw me into the past nine years ago, from what I can tell, and some idiot wizard and several accomplices brought me back. Rather roughly I may add," said Seth.

Ryou's eyes widened.

"So you're really...?"

"Yes, my birth name is, according to the blood test administered by the goblins, Harry James Potter. Personally I like Seth or Horus better. Britain is no longer my home country."

Seth had registered himself in Egypt, making him untouchable by the British Ministry. Because he had been trained in Egypt, and had an Egyptian name, they couldn't lay a finger on him unless he did something.

The best part of all was that the Egyptian Ministry had gladly accepted him as a citizen...particularly when he handed over several cultural artifacts thought lost to time and thieves. They even forged records that claimed he had graduated with honors from their schools.

As Seth so often said, it wasn't the gold that made him happy, but the accumulation of it. He liked the stealing, not the counting and all that.

Ryou couldn't believe it. Harry Potter, the savior of the magical communities...was Seth, a boy who had been in Egypt during the times of the Pharaohs.

It was a good thing he was sitting down.

"But it doesn't make any sense! You're easily in your twenties, when you should just now be turning fifteen!" said Ryou.

"Ryou-kun, I lived five thousand years in Egypt's past. I spent over fifteen years there. It's only logical that I would age more than I should have. Though I have to admit, that annoying wizard could have picked a better way to bring me back. It hurt like hell falling through time like that."

"Annoying wizard?" asked Ryou.

"Some old geezer with no taste for fashion sense and what I think was a pet phoenix. I didn't exactly get a good look before I used my powers to wipe their memories of my face and the ritual."

"Um...did this old man have half moon glasses and a twinkle in his eye?"

"Yes...why?"

"You...attacked Albus Dumbledore?" said Ryou finally.

"Who?"

"Albus Dumbledore...Headmaster of Hogwarts and Supreme Mugwump of the Wizangamot."

"And I should care why?"

"He's the only wizard able to go toe to toe with Voldemort!" said Ryou hysterically.

Seth noted a rather irritating woman behind them flinch.

"What is your point? He's a senile old man who thought he could control me simply because he had the power to summon me through the time stream. I follow no one's orders aside from my own. Hell I threw daggers at the damn Pharaoh because he pissed me off!"

He ignored the scratching of the quill behind him. Though he did make sure to blur his face and Ryou's from the witch's memories. After feeling her flinch at that name, there was little doubt she was one. He might as well give her a real story.

"So how do you know the spirit?"

"He's my brother. Though what I want to know is why you were reborn in England instead of Egypt."

"_That would be my doing. I made a small suggestion that he be reborn with his brother...though apparently because you were claimed after you were born the two of you were placed on opposing sides of England. On the plus side, Ryou here is a natural wizard much like yourself because of my interference...and by extension his sister."_

Ryou's face fell when he was reminded of his sister. Amane had been presumed dead after the accident, and his father had refused to allow him to go to Hogwarts. Because he had moved around a lot when he was younger, the Ministry couldn't seal his powers away like they did any magic user who didn't go to Hogwarts and was registered as an English citizen.

Bastet jumped onto Seth's shoulder. She seemed perfectly at ease there.

"So where is his sister?" asked Seth. He ordered a small saucer of milk for the goddess...and another cup of tea for them both.

"_His sister is currently at Beauxbatons. She survived the crash, but her memory was almost lost."_

"Amane is alive?" said Ryou in shock.

Bastet looked at him with amusement.

"_Your twin sister is still alive and thriving. She is starting to remember you, but if you want to make sure she does you might want to get an owl and send her a letter sometime,"_ said Bastet.

Ryou looked relieved at the news. Amane had been presumed dead, since the crash had been next to a river and her body was never found. It was assumed that her body had been thrown into the river.

"Now to proper business. Since we are in London, why don't we visit Diagon Alley? It's not like Kaiba will care if I take a day off," said Seth.

"What about Mokuba?"

"I've already gotten him onto a level where he can jump into the Shadow Realm, and Dharc has agreed to watch over him for me. If anything can get past him, he'll alert me and we'll go back."

Ryou finished his tea, and Bastet drank the last drop of her milk. They got up, left the money on the table, and left. Bastet felt like exploring the magical alley, so she stayed on Seth's shoulder like a parrot. She looked like a stereotypical black cat.

* * *

The moment Seth stepped into the bank, the alarms went off.

He snapped his fingers and the noise abruptly shut off.

"Honestly, I thought I cleared this up with the goblins back in Egypt?" he said amused.

"Unfortunately we need your magical signature in order to reset your vaults," said the goblin.

"Sorry about that, but I really don't want to deal with the idiots who run this particular community," said Seth.

"Understandable, but you still need to sign the forms in person," said the goblin.

"Why don't we get that out of the way now then?"

An hour later, Seth walked out with a bag of gold and a disguise. He wasn't going to make it easy for the old man who tried to manipulate him. Authority figures never sat well with him.

Ryou had his hair turned black, at Seth's suggestion. It was a temporary dye, and would wash out in the morning. They were even wearing contacts.

Seth went into the Owl Emporium and walked out with a new snow owl that had caught his interest. Neither of them even glanced at the wand shop, since Seth had agreed to show Ryou how to use real magic instead of the wizard kind.

Seth decided to avoid the packed Flourish and Blotts and went straight to Knockturn. One look at the daggers and ease of how he handled them, and the residents left him alone to shop in peace.

"Ano...Seth-kun..."

"Just Seth is fine. Though you can call me Horus if you wish. I can tell you won't mangle the name like most people," said Seth cheerfully. It felt just like home.

"Why are we in Knockturn for shopping?"

"Because they don't give a damn about the Ministry and their stupid ban on certain types of magic. Besides, half of what they use is too weak for me to even consider teaching you," said Seth.

"Isn't that magic for beginners anyway?" asked Ryou nervously.

"If you're so afraid why not let 'Kura out? He'll protect you from any harm."

"He's _caused_ most of the harm I've been in since I moved to that town!" said Ryou.

"That was probably his built up aggression towards that idiot king. My brother and I hate hurting children," said Seth.

"Ano...Seth...If I hang out with you more, can you keep him under control? I really don't like blacking out and finding that I hurt others..."

"After I'm through with you, you'll be able to bring him out as a corporeal ghost. Besides, I was always the one to rein in my brother anyway," said Seth amused.

Once they were done shopping, Seth opened another portal straight back to where they were.

* * *

Mokuba seemed very excited that he was going to have a new friend join him in Seth's magic lessons.

Ryou didn't seem that enthusiastic, but he had at least been willing to give it a shot since Seth didn't mind him borrowing Sopdet to mail his sister.

(I read in another fic that Sopdet was the Egyptian goddess of the stars.)

When asked why he gave the owl such a name, Seth said that it fit her better than anything else he could come up with. According to him the black specks reminded him of stars and the white was the predawn sky.

Mokuba seemed to be extra hyper, which was most likely because Seto had given him a lot of sugar and coffee that morning as payback for leaving him with his brother the day before.

It was a very, very good thing Seth liked kids, because Mokuba was driving him up the wall. Fortunately he had a cure for that hyper energy.

Lots and lots of gratuitous magic training! By the time they were done, Mokuba could safely travel through the Shadow Realm 9 times out of ten, and each time Kisara (that's the name of the Blue Eyes, from what I remember of Memory World) guarded him. Seth didn't think anything of it, because clearly Kaiba remembered his former lover and it was obvious she recognized him on sight.

Once he could be reasonably sure that Mokuba could escape everything but magical prisons (which was unlikely but still a valid issue) he got him started on knife training. Mokuba was barely 11, and therefore could not legally hold a gun. Knives, on the other hand, were perfectly acceptable so long as they didn't qualify to be a short dagger. There were acceptable excuses for him to carry a knife, such as opening packages and the like.

Ryou turned out to have a much different problem. Once he learned the real issue with the spirit in the Ring wasn't because of Yugi but the soul inside the Puzzle, he started to relax a little bit around the darker spirit. Hearing first hand how the former Pharaoh reacted around Bakura and Seth made it much easier for him to relate to Bakura.

It didn't hurt that Seth had confronted his brother inside the Ring and made him stop possessing Ryou so forcefully. Ryou watched the whole thing and he had never seen anything so...shocking. Seth practically browbeat Bakura into leaving Ryou alone. It didn't hurt that when he was confronted with his brother his memories started coming back, stronger than ever. Ryou had no idea how close Bakura was to Seth...or Horus as he called him. He didn't seem the least bit surprised that Seth had changed his name to something else in order to prevent his name from being mangled.

Though he did snort when he heard what he had changed it to. Apparently Seth was an alternate way of saying Set, who happened to be the Egyptian God of chaos, storms and the desert.

Considering how much he loved Egypt, it was rather fitting.

After the confrontation, Bakura actually helped more than hindered Ryou's progress. Apparently he was of the same mind as Seth. If he could learn how to protect himself then Bakura wouldn't have to come out and stab people. Though nothing Ryou could do would get him to cooperate with the spirit of Yugi's Puzzle.

He was actually very, very relieved that Seth and Bakura had nothing against Yugi himself. After hearing a description of the kid they were more likely to help him with the bullying problem...provided he kept the spirit of the Puzzle away from them in exchange.

It was a fair trade.

Ryou decided to insure Yugi would be safe from Seth by introducing them. He only agreed to it provided Yugi didn't wear the Puzzle when he came.

If he had to Seth would tell Yugi _exactly_ what the thing was made of, because it most certainly wasn't gold.

Seth took one look at Yugi and tried not to scowl. He looked like a much younger version of the damn Pharaoh! No wonder he had been stuck with the prick.

Fortunately for Yugi, the moment he started talking to Seth, the man had already pegged him as someone to protect. The boy was far too innocent for his own health, which meant that he was ranked in the same category as children were when it came to Seth.

Bakura and Seth had a longstanding agreement. Adults were fair game but children and innocent bystanders weren't to be harmed. Scaring them into leaving the area was fine, but not hurting people who were just at the wrong place and wrong time.

He left that meeting felling like he had started to undermine the Pharaoh's tenuous support with his present day body. The more Yugi would learn of the spirit, the less likely he was to cave in to everything the jerk had to say.

He couldn't help but feel this would help in the long run.


	7. Chapter 7

Marik was very surprised to find Seth at the docks with the reincarnation of his brother. Strangely he felt something akin to attraction to the albino.

Seth cheerfully appeared behind him, scaring him enough that he actually tripped on the boardwalk.

"Seth, you are an ass," said Marik with conviction.

"You know you love me anyways. In any case we have a new ally against short, spiked and boring!" said Seth with amusement

"Short, spiked and boring?" asked Ryou with a grin.

"The Pharaoh has serious height issues, and just barely clears five feet. His hair is natural, strangely enough and he is extremely boring to be around. His aura practically screams 'Worship me dammit!" said Seth flatly.

"Wait, if the Pharaoh barely clears five, how short is his Hikari?" asked Marik.

Seth grinned...and then used his hand to show Marik _exactly_ how short Yugi was. Seth was in fact close to six feet (Bakura was roughly six feet, since he was an inch or two taller than Seth) so he had to bend down to look Yugi in the eye and that amused him greatly.

"Which reminds me... Marik, there is a kid called Mokuba Kaiba and if you try to kidnap him during this mess I will hide your motorcycle from you and force you to listen to the Pharaoh with a smile on your face while his hikari is on a sugar high," said Seth seriously.

"No! Keep your hands off of Hidalgo!" said Marik.

Seth blinked once and then said "I knew letting you watch Netflix was a bad idea. Just because you like Viggo doesn't mean you can reenact that movie."

Marik blushed. Seth had teased him, lightly, about his fascination for the actor. Other than his fascination for the actor, Seth had been most understanding.

Isis had apparently given him the 'talk', but from what Seth could tell it wasn't the one that Marik actually needed. Which is when he gave his own version, which Marik took to heart more than he had the one Isis gave.

For someone as interesting as Isis, she gave the worst speeches and couldn't write an interesting book to save her life.

"Why should I leave this kid alone?" asked Marik.

"Aside from the fact that I will hide...Hidalgo (there was a definite note of amusement in his voice) from you? The fact that his brother could very well keep you from dueling the Pharaoh. Seto Kaiba is his brother, and the one who wields the Blue Eyes. He is very overprotective of his brother."

"What does this kid look like?"

"I believe he's behind Ryou at the moment," said Seth.

Mokuba had been wanting to meet with Marik ever since Seth described him as a younger, more insane version of himself.

Seth walked up to Mokuba and playfully messed up his hair.

"Marik, this is Mokuba. I'm teaching him shadow magic so be nice. Keep him from being kidnapped before this is over, and I'll teach you too."

"Deal!" crowed Marik. Learning shadow magic from the only person who was alive back then? There wasn't a chance he was passing that up!

* * *

Seth growled. He told Marik not to kidnap anyone, but does he listen?

That thought derailed the moment he saw the spirit hanging over the blond's head. He face palmed.

"Why didn't I think to threaten _him_ as well as Marik?"

Kaiba wasn't happy. Mokuba had been kidnapped and then he escaped using whatever hocus pocus Seth had been teaching him over the past week...and not the schizoid was dueling the mutt who wasn't acting normal.

Seth walked up scowling and took out a card.

"Dharc, come forth!"

Dharc the Dark Charmer (who at this point was very familiar with Kaiba) appeared.

"What do you need?"

"I apparently forgot to warn the other idiot not to mess with Yugi's friends. He kidnapped the kid who I warned Marik not to mess with against my wishes. Could you remove the control on the idiot holding the box about the harpy's head?"

"Why can't you do it?"

"I prefer to minimize exposure to a woman who's Ka happens to be Shining Friendship," said Seth dryly.

Dharc winced. People who had that monster tended to be optimistic fools who ranted about the perks of Friendship. Thankfully he had only ever seen two in the past 5,000 years.

Dharc used his natural attribute perks to break the control of the Ghoul, and the man fled when he was confronted by a cranky Kaiba.

Seth didn't go anywhere _near_ Anzu, because he didn't want to be exposed to a Friendship Otaku. He merely cast an unlocking charm and hid behind Kaiba.

Anzu snapped out of her daze, realized she was free and shrieked. She got out of the way of the box above her before anyone tried to send it crashing into her. Seth, realizing how she would react to the blond and the midget dueling, immediately charmed Kaiba's ears and his own to avoid listening to her rant.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow but looked grateful all the same. He really didn't care who won to be honest.

When she finally shut up, Seth removed the charm.

"So...you've been teaching my brother about that power and knives?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Better me than one of those half assed teachers who call themselves wizards. Your brother has the potential to be a natural mage, you as well but I can tell you would rather not deal with it so I didn't mention it, but I'm mostly insuring he can handle any kidnappers without having to rely on me all the time."

"Why knives though?"

"Because small knives are legal and easily explainable. Besides, guns are far too noisy for my taste. Mokuba doesn't seem to mind," said Seth.

"Hn. Thank you for teaching my brother. That 'magic' stuff you showed him got him out of a kidnapping situation by whatever nut job grabbed him."

"I warned Marik to leave him alone... I forgot to threaten his alter ego to do the same. Marik seems to like him enough not to harm him at least."

"Alter Ego?"

"Like the Midget, only more insane. He listens to me only because I can kick his ass at any time, and because he doesn't perceive me as weak like he does the more sane half of his mind."

"How could he perceive his own mind weak?"

"...It really doesn't help that I was willing to brain him with a laptop he had tried to swipe from me to order more sharp objects..."

Kaiba stared at him...but he went back to watching the duel. It explained so much.

In the end, Yugi willingly lost to save his friend, but was prevented from getting dragged down by Seth hexing both of the cufflinks open.

"I am going to have a...talk...with Malik when I find him," said Seth annoyed. Endangering children...or teens who were still children mentally, was a fast way to piss him off.

* * *

Marik didn't know whether to run away or back away slowly before fleeing when he saw how pissed Seth was. His eyebrow was twitching, and that was never a good sign.

"Can you bring Malik out for a moment? I need to...talk...with him," said Seth.

Marik winced. Clearly Malik had done something to royally piss off Seth. He had thought the spirit knew better after nearly having his brain caved in by Seth hitting him with the laptop. Isis was still mad about the bloodstains on the electronic.

Marik quickly relinquished control...only to watch as Malik got chewed out by Seth. It didn't take long for him to find out why Seth was so mad.

Malik had kidnapped Mokuba, a child, and tried to kill Yugi, who was still a child in all but age. If it had been the Pharaoh in control at the time, he wouldn't have been so angry, but Yugi didn't have the Puzzle on at the time.

It didn't take long for Seth to drag Malik and Marik to the Shadow Realm, where he really lit into Malik while chasing him with a large metal bat intent on doing some real damage. Malik wisely didn't try to defend himself, and ran for his life.

Right when Marik was wondering if he should go for popcorn, someone appeared behind him with a bowl.

"What did he do to piss Horus off?"

"From what I'm able to understand, he kidnapped a kid previously declared off limits and tried to kill another," said Marik, accepting the popcorn. Then he saw who was right behind him.

"Aren't you that white haired kid from the docks?"

"I'm the spirit inside his Ring. Thanks to Horus I'm starting to remember who I actually am instead of being a construct," replied the white haired man.

His skin looked like it was halfway between Egyptian Tanned and albino white. The faint hints of a scar on his right eye were present, as if a scar had started to form, but wasn't fully there. Crimson eyes looked at him with some amusement that reminded Marik mostly of Seth. His hair stuck up worse that the albino he saw at the docks.

"Ah. Marik Ishtar, unwilling Tomb Keeper and apparently the descendant of the idiot with the baseball bat. I have the Millenium Rod."

"Akefia Bakura. Just call me Bakura and my hikari Ryou. Who's the idiot who pissed off Horus?"

"Malik. He's...my darker half I suppose. He'll listen to Seth, but that's about it."

"You have any love for that midget Pharaoh?"

"None in the least. I'm forced to serve him because it's family tradition, but I would rather throw him in a pit of snakes. If you're about to do that little test Seth had me complete, don't worry. I'm more on your side than his," said Marik, sensing what he was getting at.

"Good to know. Wait, did you say descendant? Did you get the mother's name?" asked Bakura.

"I went to the goblins for the test. The ancestor who gave birth to my line was named Peri-et-washet."

Bakura started crowing with laughter.

"Oi Horus! That girl you took pity on is the one who gave birth to his clan!" yelled Bakura.

Seth paused in his attack and looked at Bakura.

"You mean that girl Peri? Suddenly the idea of having a kid doesn't sound so damn ludicrous."

"Who is Peri?" asked Marik. Seth leaned on his bat as he looked at him.

"Peri was a girl I took pity on because she was so...ordinary...that most men wouldn't look twice at her. I helped to clean her up, since her mother was killed by one of the Pharaoh's men for refusing him, and she took a rather strong liking to me..."

"'Strong liking'? Horus, that girl followed your every word every time we went to that town!"

"Yes, but she also helped us a lot when you were too injured to be able to brew the higher level potions, and she never once betrayed us," said Seth patiently.

"Which was the only reason I didn't kill her outright. Which reminds me...when did you...?"

"Right before I headed back to the base and killed that priest. The second I grabbed the Key off him I was dragged here," shrugged Seth.

Bakura wolf whistled.

"Guess that girl got her wish finally. She had been trying to get into your pants ever since you showed her how to find the best hair products for the time," he grinned.

Seth shrugged again.

"It was either let her down gently and break her heart, or do the deed and make her happy for once in her life. You know my policy on innocents. I wasn't going to break her heart after all she did for us," said Seth.

"One of these days your kindness is going to get you killed Horus," said Bakura, shaking his head.

"More than likely it's going to be a failed robbery than kindness."

Malik tried to sneak past Seth, only for the boy to take the bat and hit him hard on the head with it without blinking or looking behind him. Marik winced at the sound.

"You can duel without his presence right?"

"I'm somewhat better than he is, but he's more sadistic towards his opponents," Marik confirmed.

"Good. Malik will be...indisposed for the next few hours unless something changes and triggers him to retake possession," said Seth.

The two left without once watching what Seth had in mind for the insane alter ego.

* * *

Seth was getting tired of being dragged to England by the old man. This was the third attempt, though at least he had used a different ritual. He would have had to after Seth had stolen the book he used before.

"I have said it before old man, and I'll say it again. Quit dragging me here!" growled Seth.

"If you truly are Harry, then I have no choice. We need to you to kill the Dark Lord," said the old man bluntly.

Seth noted two new people along with those who were there before. A man who had the aura of a mage bound by the chains of his wand, and what appeared to be a werewolf.

"I am not Harry Potter! I haven't been in years!" Seth said angrily.

The two new people tensed. Clearly they were more familiar to Harry than the others.

"So you are Harry. Why is it that you appeared to be in your twenties instead of your true age?" demanded the old man.

Seth growled. He was getting tired of being forced to come to England. He waved his hand, and a set of books shot to his hand. The vanished into his vault with the rest of his loot.

"Tell me this. Why the hell haven't you people dealt with this Dark Lord on your own time instead of bothering me? And why the hell should I care about some weak ass wizard?"

"Language!" barked the red haired woman.

Seth glared at her so venomously that she wilted under his gaze. Kaiba had nothing on him when he was pissed.

The two men behind her seemed nervous, as if unsure of how to proceed with this new Harry.

Once the old man explained about their dark lord, all Seth could do was ask again how it was his problem they were too chicken shit to kill him themselves.

"Now listen here...!" started the red head again.

Seth had pegged her as a meddling mother type, who tended to look down on people younger than thirty as children. After losing his village (and apparently his birth parents) to two mad men, he wasn't inclined to take any mothering very well.

"You have exactly five minutes before I take a portal home. I am not going to fight a war for some fool who's too afraid to fight for what he believes in," said Seth coldly.

The two men in the back apparently came to a decision about Seth. Right as he opened the portal, they rushed forward before anyone had the sense to do so themselves.

Seth looked at them once it was closed.

"So...who exactly are you besides a fledgeling mage and a werewolf?"

"My name is Sirius Black...this is Remus. Wait, how did you know he was a werewolf?" asked Sirius.

"For starters, he has the same aura as those cursed by the moon wolf. Also, the only people with eyes like that happen to have wolf animal forms. Now why did you follow me?"

"Are you really Harry?"

"If you are asking whether or not I was once called Harry Potter, the answer is yes. I quit using that name years ago. My name happens to be Horus...though I use the nickname Seth in order to keep that from being mangled," said Seth firmly.

"How is it that you look like you're twenty one?" asked Remus. That had been baffling him ever since Seth had told him his former name.

"I _am_ 21. Bastet, the Egyptian Goddess of the moon and sun, cats and lower Egypt, claimed me roughly ten years ago this side of the time stream. I was raised in Ancient Egypt, roughly five thousand years into the past by my brother. Naturally I had more time to grow up, which is why I'm older than I should be."

"You were kidnapped by an Egyptian Goddess?" said Sirius in disbelief.

"Not kidnapped. From what little I remember of those...people, and I use the term as a joke...she rescued me from an abusive home. Even if I had a choice to reverse what she did and be raised normally, I wouldn't take it. I love my brother as if we were blood."

Sirius and Remus took that to heart. It was easy for Sirius to understand his position, because if he had a choice he would have preferred to be raised by James' father instead of his family.

"Well, since I have no intention of going back there and dealing with Dumbledore, what name should we call you?" asked Sirius.

"Seth. I go by Seth," he replied. Clearly they weren't going to try and change who he was just to fit their vision of who he should be.

As long as they kept that kind of attitude, he wouldn't mind hanging out with them.


	8. Chapter 8

Sirius and Remus were rather accepting of the fact that not only did their godson/cub used to live five thousand years in the past, but had apparently fathered a long line of Tomb Keepers. The irony was that Bill Weasly, one of their best Order members, used to be in regular contact with the Ishtar clan thanks to his job and he never knew they were descendants of the Potters!

The only problem Seth had with the two was the fact that Marik got along with Sirius a little too well. It had all started with the fact that they both loved motorcycles and then things went downhill from there.

Seth was quite sure Isis would have his head the minute she learned he had introduced her rather insane younger brother to a man known for his rather cruel pranks towards people he didn't like. Marik and Sirius could often be found in dark corners huddled together and plotting dark pranks.

It was only the fact that Seth could manhandle them both with ease that kept him from worrying. Poor Remus looked like he was gaining a few more gray hairs at the idea of Sirius with a willing accomplice.

* * *

Seth earned his sixth locator card (Kaiba's tournament required six locator cards to find the place where the finals were) and debated whether to join the finals. In the end he decided against it for the sole reason that he had no intention of allowing the Pharaoh to regain his memories. The second the remembered that blasted crush on him, he knew the man would turn into a bloody fan boy!

True to his word, he hadn't tried to harm or even look at the Pharaoh. However he knew for a fact that the minute the Pharaoh tried to regain his memories, it would start the countdown to the moment Yugi had to duel him for control. And Yugi wasn't ready for that to happen yet. So Seth decided to join the others on the blimp as Mokuba's bodyguard, which made it impossible for the Pharaoh to try and duel him for Slifer.

Sirius decided to join Remus at the buffet, where he ran into the blond from earlier. It didn't take long for them to bond over siblings, when the boy learned that Sirius took family very...well, seriously.

"Where did you disappear to Seth?" asked Kaiba.

"Long story short, people with magic have annoying as hell rituals that can drag people against their will halfway across the world for no reason. Some old geezer in England keeps using them to drag me there so I can fight in some war they are too chicken to fight in themselves. It's getting really old, really fast," said Seth annoyed.

"And those two?"

"Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. According to them they were friends with my birth father, not that I remember either parent. They jumped into the portal I was using to get back before it closed, so I let them tag along. They agreed to help me teach Mokuba and the others magic," shrugged Seth.

"Isn't Black an escaped convict?"

"Is he? I don't think he's that dangerous actually. Just look at how Mokuba acts around him. If anyone can tell us if we can trust Sirius, it's him."

"What?"

"Your brother is a natural Empath. He can sense emotions and can read people faster than even I can. If Black were actually dangerous, he would have mentioned it after I introduced him and the werewolf before I started their last lesson," said Seth.

"What's an Empath?"

"An Empath is someone who can read minds, emotions and auras naturally. They're extremely rare and are considered royalty in magical communities. They're so prized that most would never dare harm one," answered Remus.

"Which means they are a better judge of character than most, right?"

"Quite true. Anyway, while Sirius did break out of a magical prison, he was never actually _convicted _of a crime, hence the term Convict doesn't actually apply to him. Not to mention the fact that someone we once trusted was the one to set him up to take the fall for something Sirius never would have done," said Remus.

"So which of you is the werewolf?"

"Ah...that would be me."

"Is there anything I should know about the condition itself?"

Remus explained how it turned him into a monster three nights a month, and how his senses grew stronger depending on what phase of the moon it was. Kaiba wasn't that bothered by the condition. Remus clearly took precautions to avoid harming others, and Mokuba seemed to like him like an uncle, which spoke loads about his character. So long as he never hurt anyone on the full moon, he could care less that Remus was a magical creature.

Kaiba did break off to speak with Black, and returned later with Sirius completely unharmed. Sirius did look rather shell shocked, but those who knew Kaiba decided to chock that up to the fact that he had been in a room alone with the dragon obsessed duelist. He tended to have that kind of effect on people.

"So...what's the verdict?"

"Remus is willing to help you teach Mokuba magic. While I don't like the idea of something so...unscientific, I am willing to tolerate it's existence so long as Mokuba is happy. Sirius, while somewhat behind on technology is a surprising treasure trove of how to use what he calls runes to get some of the most basic electronics to work. He's agreed to try and work with the research department to see if we can't exploit the rather small market of magically powered items," said Kaiba.

Seth chuckled. So Kaiba had adopted the 'magic may be real but I don't have to like it' approach. He could work with that.

"So have the Pharaoh's cheering squad tried to convince you about magic yet?"

Kaiba snorted in derision.

"I can see why you dislike him so much. His holier-than-thou attitude is grating on all but the most patient people. It's a miracle the midget hasn't told him to shove it," said Kaiba.

"That's mostly the reason."

"The only one who's been trying to convince me I have magic and a destiny is that pest Isis. I don't believe in prophecy, and I barely tolerate the idea of past lives," said Kaiba.

Seth frowned. He had told Isis repeatedly his views on human made prophecies. Unless it was confirmed by a god he was familiar with, he dismissed them as pure rubbish. Not to mention the fact that while the Tauk did improve chances to gain actual visions, those who used it could create fake ones just as easily.

And he knew for a fact that Isis didn't have a drop of Seer blood in her. One of the things he got from the goblins was a list of powers that came with his family bloodline. As Marik had demonstrated, the ability to speak to snakes was one of them.

Isis had been very put out when she found out that most of her visions were only figments of her imagination combined with the Tauk's power. Marik had laughed like a hyena when he found out.

Little Miss Seer was a fraud and didn't know it!

* * *

Seth watch bored, as the duels commenced. While actually participating was fun, these card games bored him to tears. It wasn't until the blond kid beat Rashid, thereby breaking one of the only chains to bind Malik from taking over Marik by force, that he actually took an interest.

The second Malik went to attack the blond woman Mai with a full powered blast by Ra, he intervened.

"Slifer, come forth!"

A long red dragon with two mouth and the power of Osiris came out and blocked the attack. Seth wasn't stupid enough to try and stop it without the aid of another god, and none of the ones that favored him were in the mood to deal with the watered down version of the Sun god.

Slifer not only stopped the attack, he curled around Seth. It was very clear where his loyalties lay, and it wasn't with the Pharaoh to the surprise of Isis.

"Come on Seth, let me play with the bint," said Malik with a whine.

"Malik, if you don't want me to perform a repeat of my reaction to you kidnapping the younger Kaiba brother, back off. Shadow rules clearly state that you can't declare a shadow game unless the other participant has an Item, has agreed to it before the match, or has magic to begin with. Ms. Kujaku doesn't have a hint of magic, hence your punishment is null and void," said Seth levelly.

"And why should I care about the rules?" sneered Malik.

Seth sighed. He had hoped to reason with Malik. When reason failed, there was only one other solution.

He summoned the bat he used last time, and leaned on it pointedly.

"Your choice Malik. Either I brain you into another concussion and string you up the side of this fast moving blimp, or you leave her be," said Seth annoyed.

Malik sneered at him again, but allowed Mai to be left alone. Seth kept the bat out anyway.

The next one up was Seto and Isis, and Seth made it very clear who he was siding with. Isis had a bigger ego problem than the Pharaoh did, and she needed to be knocked down a few pegs. What better way than for someone who barely tolerated magic beating her visions and proving once and for all that they weren't entirely accurate?

Isis gave him a glare, and grimaced when Seto Kaiba trounced her easily.

Seth decided to enjoy the view for a while longer, and spotted something Ryou dropped after he was beaten by Yugi.

He picked up the Ring, and sensed his brother next to him. Seth pushed enough shadow magic into the thing that Bakura could walk around for a little while. He would return to Ryou's side, since Ryou had some trouble handling the shadow duel.

Fortunately the Pharaoh wasn't fully aware of the rules of such things, since he didn't claim the Ring.

"So when are you going to teach the kids how to make a shadow bat?"

Seth chuckled.

"Right around the time we figure out where the rest of those damn Items are."

"Well the midget has the Puzzle, I have the Ring, Marik has the Rod, Isis the Tauk, that blasted Tomb Keeper has the Scales and Key last time I heard..."

"I have the Key. I killed the previous owner right as I was being dragged back to this time, so I reclaimed it to keep Shaadi from using it against us."

"Right, and Pegasus had the Eye, which I now have in the apartment."

"So we know the location of the seven. Now our only issue is finding a way to convince the midget and the others to part with them so that they can be sealed."

"Bah. The runt isn't nearly ready to handle being alone just yet, let alone being able to duel His Royal Pain-in-the-ass. Which reminds me...how the fuck did that old man nab you in the first place?"

"Some random magic ritual with a piece of hair before the blood adoption to your clan. You should have seen the look on his face when he first realized I wasn't the age I was supposed to be and was fully trained to steal, kill and blast my way out of that house!" he said gleefully.

Bakura smirked.

"You got a memory viewer?"

Seth cackled.

* * *

_An old man was standing in front of a pentacle inside a circle made of blood. Beside him were twelve others, some a bit pale for donating the blood to the circle. He was the only one who had been present at the previous summoning, since Fawkes refused to collect the errant Potter boy._

_He began to chant in Ancient Egyptian, following the same spell Bill had found quite by accident in one of the goblin archives. When they learned why he wanted to use it, they had given him an odd look but had agreed to let him make a single copy._

_A week later they attempted to summon Harry from wherever he was. No letters could find him, and even with a lock of his baby hair, blood spells couldn't even touch him. For some reason the attempt had left them all drained beyond belief, so much so that it took a month before they could even remotely consider a second attempt._

_Because there was no doubt it had done _something_. They had felt the magic drain, and if he had been dead it wouldn't have been so great. They had nearly summoned something into the circle, but they were blocked at the last second by an outside force._

_That was more than enough reason for a second attempt._

_This time the drain wasn't nearly as great, and someone began to appear. He was tall, about a few inches taller than Dumbledore himself. And he had black hair that was tied in a rough ponytail. He was wearing what appeared to be an Arabic cloak, and his skin was very tan._

_But it was the eyes that held Dumbledore's attention. They were as green as Lily's, and just as intelligent._

_He took one look at them and said something in a language they didn't understand. Bill did, but his Egyptian was passable at best. He winced when he heard the man's words._

"_He wants to know if we're the ones who dragged him here."_

_The man looked at him sharply and said something else...Bill winced even more._

"_Correction: Are you the dumb asses who dragged me through that side realm? It fucking hurt," said Bill._

_The man appeared satisfied by the fact Bill had repeated what he had said without paraphrasing._

_Dumbledore was having difficulty believing this was the same child they were looking for, because he appeared to be in his twenties, not his teens._

_Harry was supposed to be fifteen._

"_We are looking for Harry Potter. He's a fifteen year old boy with a lightning scar on his forehead."_

_Bill translated the request, and the man looked very annoyed._

"_I don't know any Harry Potter, and even if I did why the hell would I help you when you just dragged me here in a fucking painful way?"_ _Bill translated._

"_We need to find him. He is in danger from a man who seeks to kill him."_

_The man laughed when Bill translated that and gave him a look that spoke volumes. Clearly he didn't think they were capable of protecting a single knut, let alone a child._

"_You wizards are all alike. You think the world revolves around your petty struggles and you're too full of shit to think about fighting for yourselves. I bet this kid is one of your precious pawns that have escaped, and you just want him back to fight your battles for you,"_ _said Bill, who winced._

_Dumbledore's eyes gleamed. And then he asked if the man would be willing to come to their aid. The man didn't even hide his snort of derision. What he did next shocked them._

"_Fuck off, Wizard."_

_It was said in perfect, if heavily accented, English. The man waved his hand and vanished before they could ask him anything else._

"_Well that could have gone better," said Bill._

* * *

Bakura couldn't help his reaction, he was _howling_. The old goat had summoned his pawn, only to find out that he wanted nothing to do with him! The look on his face was priceless!

Ryou looked amused as well, though he did have one question.

"Why didn't he just have his phoenix grab you?"

Seth snorted.

"Those who follow Bastet and the immortal children of Ra do not like each other. That phoenix knew I was protected by the goddess, and he wanted nothing to do with an attempt at kidnapping me. Had he tried he would have pissed Her off."

"So how many summonings did it take for him to figure out you were in fact his missing pawn?" snorted Bakura.

"Five, and that was _after_ I had erased his memories of the previous rituals twice and stolen the only copy they had of the spell. They keep finding a new way to drag me there and I keep telling them to go to hell."

"Then why did you bring Sirius and Remus with you?"

"They were the only ones who looked like they weren't interested in forcing me to join their ridiculous fight, and from what I understand they mostly just wanted to get to know me since I happen to be the only remaining relative of their dead friend. The fact I'm half their age didn't really factor into it. Besides, they don't agree with the Ministry at all, and can teach you lot magic."

"I'll admit that Black had some good ones," said Bakura.

"Have I ever steered you wrong brother?"

Bakura looked at him.

"What about that time with the camel?"

"I didn't know you were drunk enough to try it!"

"And the time with what we thought was oil and ended up being ink?"

"We were both hard up and there wasn't anything better nearby!"

"Or the time you thought we could slip past the guards dressed as women and ended up being..."

"Like I was supposed to know they were that horny! We killed them after anyway!"

"Or..."

Poor Ryou was beet red at this point.

"You two used to...? But aren't you brothers?"

"Bastet took me from my home, and so we weren't blood related. Besides, it was either that or the camels, and we weren't that desperate," said Seth flatly.

"Besides, don't you have a crush on Marik?" Bakura pointed out.

"Eep!"

"Don't worry Ryou, we'll give you a list of really good positions and what not to use as lube," said Seth grinning like a cat.

Ryou was flaming red at this point and it was a miracle he hadn't fainted from embarrassment.


	9. Chapter 9

Seth opted to stay behind while the others explored the odd place that the blimp had been forced onto. Apparently someone had hijacked the computers.

Considering the magic in his made electronics go haywire, Seth really didn't want to go anywhere near the pods. Instead he went back to his computer and the chat board with his friends the Medjai.

Seth hated the Tomb Keepers, who fawned over the Pharaoh. To the surprise of Marik and Isis, he got along just fine with the Medjai, who once served as the Pharaoh's bodyguards but now served the true gods in protecting the ancient secrets of the desert. They weren't above using the gold of the ancient pharaohs to buy what was needed. So long as it wasn't cursed anyway.

Even Bakura, when he learned of the Medjai, respected them. Unlike the pampered Tomb Keepers, the Medjai followed the ways of true desert dwellers, and fought to survive the same as they had. So long as he didn't try to rob them, the Medjai would treat him the same as they did Seth.

It had taken exactly three months for Seth to learn of their existence and to find them. They weren't happy about it until one of the mages in their ranks saw that he walked with the Old Gods and followed the same path. After that he was welcomed as a friend to the clans.

Bastet and Horus had been inordinately pleased by this.

* * *

**ChosenofBast:** _I really don't know what the wizards will try next. I'm almost tempted to spend a year with the tribes to remember half of the things I used to do every day._

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ These wizards are a bold and arrogant lot. Their hubris rivals the pharaohs of old._

**ChosenofBast:**_ and the pharaoh that walks among men once more. I swear Atem is more annoying than Ramses!_

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ has the Lunar One spoken of our problem?_

**ChosenofBast:**_ she told me once this silly little tournament is over that I will be permitted to go to that time to keep the wizards from causing even more trouble than He-who-should-remain-buried. We really don't need Imhotep to start causing problems along with that European fool Voldemort._

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ I am relieved. I was worried that the fools would distort time and allow the Creature to walk among men again. Where they found that particular spell I would love to know. If only so we could kill the one who gave it to them._

**ChosenofBast:**_ I'll be sure to ask. I'm certain my brother would love to help me geld the fools. While we're on the subject, do the clans have any objections to us robbing Hamunaptra?_

(Elsewhere Ardeth Bey choked back a laugh.)

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ So long as you leave some of it behind so __that we may fund our clans, I don't think they'll care. I will ask just in case. _

**ChosenofBast:**_ (Chuckle) I wouldn't worry about that. You are the only group that once associated with the pharaohs that we even tolerate. At least you understand us better than those fool Tomb Keepers._

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ Ah yes, our secretive cousins. Tomb Keepers is a poor name for their group. What sort of keeper would allow the blatant raiding of the old and cursed tombs by the goblins?_

**ChosenofBast:**_ According to Isis the goblins struck up an agreement with the previous clan head and the only way to stop it is to await until Marik reaches 17. They won't listen to him until he reaches the majority of the magical communities and Isis isn't the heir, despite being the oldest._

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ Just between you and me, we can't stand wizards. Especially when they thought that the children touched by the Gods to wield the ancient power had to be trained by them and not by the clans. We have to fight off the fools and move often every time another is gifted just to keep them from being taken._

**ChosenofBast:**_ Perhaps I shouldn't mention this, but I would be wary of Ra's children in particular. I shall talk to Bastet later to see if she can give your tribes blessing to keep the children of Ra from stealing the young ones._

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ Some of our children have been taken that way before. We would be in your debt if you could keep them away from our clans._

**ChosenofBast:**_ May the Gods be with you and your clans._

**ProtectoroftheDesert:**_ May Allah be with you and your clan._

* * *

"So what did Ardeth have to say?" asked Bakura.

Seth grinned evilly. Bakura straightened up, an interested glint in his eye. Usually when his brother had that glint it meant he had juicy information about a heist.

"If all goes well, we'll be allowed to go to Hamunaptra and rob it in exchange for helping the Medjai with a problem they're having with wizards. Oh, and I'll need to talk to Bastet about a protection spell over the clans. Apparently the wizards have been taking children touched by the gods."

Bakura, who had been leaning over the blimp, spat in disgust. Kaiba had been clear about his views of his less pleasant habits. He could kill and gut someone so long as his brother didn't see the mess and the blood was cleaned up quickly. He also told Bakura flatly if he caught the man spitting in the blimp he would strangle him barehanded.

Hence why the spirit was currently up on the top so it went off the blimp. Kaiba had looked serious when he said that.

"Wait, did you say Hamunaptra? As in _the_ Hamunaptra?" said Bakura.

"Yup. So long as we leave some for the Medjai and do our job, they could care less if we robbed the place. You know it's one of the few places to find those scarabs I love."

Seth had a penchant for the deadly jeweled scarabs. Asps were good and fine, but any decent parselmouth could convince them to let them pass and they were highly conspicuous. The rare Jeweled Scarab, which was labeled at the same danger level as a basilisk and pissed off dragon, were much harder to notice and harder still to kill properly. Not to mention the fact fewer still knew how to handle them without them breaking out of the shell.

Before Seth had sent the entire hoard into the Shadow Realm, he had plastered the walls with the things, and since they looked like real jewels, any idiot who tried to take one would be killed within minutes via the scarab eating their heart. Quite a few would be thieves had been killed that way, and the brothers had tossed their decaying corpses outside into the desert without a second thought.

The fact that an unopened, still intact scarab went for 10,000 galleons on the black market didn't factor into his love of the things at all. The goblins, when they learned of how many he hoarded in his treasure, had offered him twice that and another ten for the spell to keep them in the shells until they were placed into the vaults.

Seth had only sold twenty to the goblins. He just liked them because they were great traps and almost impossible to deal with once opened by the idiots. Bakura didn't like them as much, but he did enjoy laying on the roof of the village hearing the idiots die in a very slow and painful manner.

The only problem was that they were almost impossible to find in the present day era and even then they were in the really old tombs. They had been hard to find even in their time.

Seth was quite pleased his collection of scarabs had also made it into the hoard, each jeweled bug plastered on the walls like silent sentinels.

Bakura cackled. There were times he absolutely loved his brother, and this was one of them.

"Count me in! You know I've been wanting to hit that place since I heard of it from the Medjai!"

"I wouldn't dream of keeping you out of this one. Fortunately I have located a spell to give you a temporary body so that you can join me without dragging Ryou from his budding relationship."

Bakura cheered and then went to use the time to make a list of what he would need for the trip. Seth amusedly supplied the year, and with the help of a more cheerful Ryou (who was beyond happy that something would take the cranky spirit out of him for a few months at least) the two got to planning. Seth enlisted the aid of a bored Marik and Marauders to help him with a few potions and enchantments he needed done.

* * *

By the time the group who had gone exploring returned, they came with an unexpected passenger. Mokuba, the crafty brat, had found a way to load the spirit of Noah Kaiba who was the biological son of the man who adopted the brothers, onto his magically powered laptop which had been one of the first things Sirius had helped Kaiba with as a test. Kaiba had given it to his brother so he could know whether it would work for magic users.

He planned to make that his pet project for the next month.

(It was part of Seth's magic training. He wanted them to expand and control their magic in new ways, and to do that they needed to do a new project for a month that hadn't been tried before. Ryou had taken to this rather well, as he put his dungeon master days to good use while Mokuba thought of new ways to use old spells.)

Two hours later they were on the site of the old Kaiba corps building which was littered with all of Gozuboro Kaiba's weapons. Kaiba had told Seth he planned to blow up this monument to the past as a show of moving past it.

Noah actually agreed with his idea, which had surprised Kaiba slightly.

"Ugh. Malik is acting like an idiot, again," said Seth tiredly.

To the amusement of Kaiba and Mokuba, Seth had gotten into a game of rummy with Noah once the placement had been made for the finals. Neither of them were interested in watching the Pharaoh win the thing, as it was obvious. Kaiba had decided to join Mokuba in watching the two tally up scores to see who would win once he lost to the Pharaoh.

Seto Kaiba couldn't help but feel pleased by the fact that Seth had dropped out of the tournament at the last minute to work security before the spirit could duel him for Slifer.

Not that Yami Yugi (as the others called the pharaoh since they didn't know his name) knew about the fact he had it until he stopped Ra from damaging Mai's soul.

Eventually the Pharaoh won, with much fan fair from the cheering section (I/E Jounouchi and the others) and Marik did his job as Tomb Keeper.

He was only bound to reveal it to the Pharaoh, not explain what it all said or the ramifications of it. He did have some fun mooning the Pharaoh though.

They made it to the plane in time to find Ryou demolishing the last of the donuts (and Seth was miffed the boy hadn't saved any for him) and they all watched the island be destroyed.

* * *

"Knives!" yelled Bakura from his room. Marik had opted to stay with Ryou and avoid Isis, who had begun to realize her brother might like the British boy.

"Fifteen in the bag, six on me and three long ones in the special pocket!" yelled Seth.

"Potions?"

"Three full Extreme Healer's kit, along with some animal transformations and animagi. And three sets of a dozen hangover potions. Sirius left instructions to the animagi one."

"Food?"

"Got enough to feed and army for a month. And enough water to last us three times that long."

"Transport?"

"Got the enchanted statues. Both camel and horse."

"Gold?"

Seth didn't bother to reply, but sent a spell in Bakura's direction. The spirit roared in anger as ice cold water drenched him from head to toe to Marik and Ryou's clear amusement.

"Right, stupid question. What about that letter to the Medjai?"

"I sincerely doubt that they'll bother us once Bastet drops us off near the Museum. I heard the curator is one of them before he was killed by Imhotep."

"As much as I love anyone who pisses off a pharaoh as thoroughly as this fool has, only a true idiot would invoke such a ritual without double checking that there wasn't anyone nearby first," said Bakura.

When informed of Imhotep's betrayal of the pharaoh and subsequent death, Bakura had summed up his opinion rather quickly.

Imhotep was an idiot, though thankfully _not_ on the same caliber as Voldemort or that senile old goat.

"You got the spells ready?"

"Akefia, shut the hell up. We are about to head home to speak to the one tribe of former bodyguards to the pharaohs and hopefully prevent a real mess from forming. I still need to speak to Bast about that protection spell for the clans."

"Do try not to be an idiot, Bakura," said Ryou.

They had settled on what to call each other. Akefia would be called Bakura in public and he would just be Ryou. It made things less confusing.

Bakura cackled, and they headed to the private jet Kaiba had loaned them. Seth had a phone to call them when it was time to come back. Considering Shaadi hadn't been happy he had claimed Slifer, it was safer to ride a jet than travel via the shadow realm.

(Not happy was an understatement. Shaadi was downright _pissed._ Apparently he viewed the fact that Seth had claimed the card and not the Pharaoh as a breach of the agreement, which had played a part in why he had agreed to help Ardeth with his mage problem.)

* * *

Seth quickly walked up to Ardeth and gave the traditional greeting of the desert dwellers to him.

"Peace be with you and your clans, may the light of the gods protect you and yours," said Seth.

"Peace be with you and your clan, may the light of the goddess guide you and yours," said Ardeth.

It was an acceptable alteration, since Seth was the chosen of Bastet the Moon goddess.

A low yowl of a cat was heard, and a long black panther stalked up to Seth.

"Bastet," bowed Seth.

"_I hear the desert tribes are having a problem with Ra. And yes Seth I was reading your message to your friend here. If I may meet with each of the tribal heads, I will place a spell of protection over the clans."_

Ardeth looked relieved. More and more children were showing signs of being god touched of late.

"Thank you, Great Goddess," said Ardeth with feeling.

"_It means I can assist a friend of my Chosen and put one on the old featherbrain. None of the other gods will fault me for placing a spell to keep children with their rightful families. If anything they will start to ask Ra why he allowed his children to do something so frowned upon,"_ grinned the cat.

By the time Seth had a note for the Medjai in Ardeth's handwriting and seal, Bastet had made a round of all the tribes and placed a spell of protection on them. Her timing couldn't have been better, because right after she did the first a phoenix appeared and was about to snatch a child for the Egyptian government she roared to catch it's attention.

The phoenix paused in his task and glared at the goddess.

"_Begone foul child of Ra. These tribes are under my protection now, and any who seek to steal from their clans will have to deal with my wrath. You should be ashamed to steal children from their kin!"_ snarled Bastet.

The phoenix was clearly debating whether or not to steal a child when it shrieked in pain. Apparently they were only doing it because they were forced to. It tried to grab a girl, barely nine years old, when Bastet slashed at it's right talon and severed it.

The phoenix let loose a cry of true pain, and fled.

The girl cried in relief and thanked the goddess repeatedly. The children had been raised with warnings of phoenixes since the government had had the argument with the Medjai about their training practices two hundred years ago.

* * *

Seth held onto his brother, and Bastet dropped them off in the museum when the woman known as Evelyn had left with her brother.

"Good lord! What in the name of Allah are you doing in my library!" exclaimed the curator.

"Peace be with you and yours, and may the gods protect your kin," said Seth.

"Peace be with you and yours, and may Allah protect your kin," replied the curator, suspicious.

"I come bearing a message for Ardeth Bey. Wizards have found a forbidden spell that sends them back into the past and he has asked us to keep them from succeeding."

"I will send a hawk. I assume you have proof of this?"

Seth held out the paper with the message to the curator, with didn't mention how he would die. If he lived this time around, it would be by the grace of Allah.

He read the note, and his face paled. Ten minutes later Seth was with Bakura at the hotel that the group would be staying at later. They had to wait until it was time to join Evelyn's group after all.


	10. Chapter 10

Ardeth had not been happy when he learned of Seth's task. Even less so when he learned that the man had accidentally spawned the current head of the Tomb Keepers. Only a few things kept him from dismissing the mage.

The first of which was the letter penned by his own hand complete with his seal. The second was the fact that he had spoken the greeting and response of the desert tribe's closest allies when they first met. But the one thing that stayed his hand when he was told that the group would have to be lead to Hamunaptra was this.

Seth had a tattoo on his left shoulder. Bakura hadn't known was it was until recently, and Seth had preferred to keep it hidden, mostly because of the Dark Marks that Lord Voldemort placed on his troops. It was the sacred mark of the Medjai.

Seth had been very surprised to learn what it actually meant from Ardeth when he had shown it to the man. It was a proof that he had not turned evil against his will.

Looking back on it, Seth realized that he had always followed the light in his own way. And he had inadvertently kept his brother from turning evil.

And he recognized evil whenever he saw Dumbledore. The man had created something akin to what the pharaohs had in Egypt, and he didn't plan on allowing anyone to remove him from power. Plus he simply didn't like the man.

* * *

Horus (he had decided to go by his own name instead of the one he used to give) walked up to the group, introducing himself with the letter the curator had given him when asked.

As far as the four knew, the two were bodyguards hired by the curator in exchange for a chance to look at the treasure of Hamunaptra.

In reality they were to keep the wizards from getting their hands on the twin books of the Gods. The Book of the Dead and the Book of Amun Ra should never be in the hands of wizards.

It was bad enough he had to let a mundane reincarnation of Nefertiti get her hands on it and read it aloud. He couldn't wait to see Ardeth's reaction to _that_ particular news.

Akefia picked up the bags and helped them with the rest of the luggage.

Once the boat was on its way, Horus struck up a conversation with Rick about weapons. The man perked up and soon there was a three-way chat about the efficacy of guns over knives.

Akefia grimaced when asked about how good a shot he was, claiming his aim was piss poor and he preferred throwing knives for a reason. Horus had a decent shot (he was a very good sniper, as Kaiba had discovered) but he hated the noise. Plus the problem with buying ammunition and reloading the damn things took too much time for his taste.

With knives he could simply summon them back if they weren't damaged and use them immediately.

Rick, apparently, had contact with wizards before and they had seen an odd tattoo on the man's arm and turned into complete assholes. When he showed the tattoo to Horus, the boy grimaced.

"I see why they became assholes. This is the symbol of the Medjai, those who were chosen at a young age to protect the secrets of the desert, or to stop the darkness within the sands from arising should they wake up and cause trouble. Having this means any Medjai will give you aid within reason, since you have the mark but no formal training. It also means that magic that seeks to force you to do evil things will have more trouble, since only the gods can give these out."

Rick blinked.

"You mean a god slapped this on me in an orphanage in Cairo?"

"Or one of their messengers. Either way, it does grant you protection from quite a bit of the more unpleasant magic. For example the British Imperio spell would have great difficulty being placed on you, and it wouldn't work at all if used by a low-level wizard. A mage, on the other hand, would have moderate difficulty since generally they are three times stronger than most wizards. So long as this is on you, it means you will never willingly walk the path of evil."

"You got one of these too?"

Horus showed him his tattoo.

"It was placed on my by Bast directly when I became her chosen. I don't walk the side of good, but rather that of Neutrality. Because of my status as a thief, I am allowed that particular quirk."

"You're a thief?"

"We both are. You wouldn't believe how much gold we got in our hiding spot. By the way, if you see any blueish looking scarabs on the walls, let me know. I have a habit of collecting those things," said Horus.

"Bluish scarabs? I didn't know they could be blue. And why on the wall?"

"Long story short, they are extremely rare and dangerous magical creatures who can go into hibernation for thousands of years at a time and when they wake up are voraciously hungry. If you were foolish enough to get close without some sort of solid barrier the things would quite literally eat your heart out. They have the ability to burrow under the skin and move through muscles to get to the heart."

"And you have a habit of collecting these things?" said Rick incredulous.

"Jewel Scarabs are excellent deterrents to fellow thieves. And they are relatively harmless so long as you have the spell that keeps them in their shells. You wouldn't believe how many idiots have found our base and tried to steal from us only to die by a scarab. Sometimes we would listen to the fool's death screams while watching the night sky before dumping them in the desert," said Horus with a straight face.

"What did you say these things look like again?"

Horus grinned, then went into his room. In reality he went into the shadow realm to retrieve a loose sealed scarab, which was used to demonstrate what they looked like to his students. It was put under a permanent seal, so the scarab inside would never escape unless he removed it.

He returned to find Rick cleaning his gun and Akefia sharpening the knives for him. It didn't surprise him in the least that the two got along.

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Jonathan blabbed about where we're going. And unfortunately it seems my old 'friend' Benny is leading them."

"Coward?"

"Highly. Little bastard locked me out of the only safe place when the raiders came and only some weird sand storm by a statue of Anubis saved my ass. Took me weeks to get to civilization without a damn horse."

Akefia chuckled.

"I like him. Think anyone would protest if we keep him?"

"Doubtful, but since that's the case at least we'll have an excuse to help them," said Horus.

"Any chance of cluing me in?" asked Rick.

"Not just yet, but long story short we weren't hired as your bodyguards. Some wizards got their hands on something they shouldn't, and we were sent to keep them from really screwing up what is about to happen. The bodyguard bit is just our cover."

"Don't forget robbing Hamunaptra!" said Akefia cheerfully.

Rick choked.

"How the hell do you plan to do that when even we couldn't find it the first time?"

"We can read," the brothers chirped.

_'Plus from what we have heard of Imhotep, he would be willing to give us directions if only to have the two who outdate him out of the way for a while,'_ thought Horus amused.

It wasn't until halfway through dinner that the Medjai finally showed up. Since Horus didn't sense Ardeth, they mostly helped the others get off the boat. Though he did do Evy a favor and snag the suitcase with her clothes.

* * *

"How is it that you got horses when we were lucky to find camels?" complained Rick with good nature.

"Easy. We prepared before this excursion, and among them was a set of enchanted horse statues. All the mobility of a horse without the fuss and mess," said Akefia happily.

"I hate you two right now. You understand that right?"

"About as much as my brother hated me for tricking him into that dress. How long did it take that guard to figure out you were a guy again?"

"Fuck you! He didn't figure it out until he copped a feel!" snapped Akefia.

"Which part? Bottom or top?"

Akefia growled and threw a knife at his brother, who ducked before it could land on him. The two entertained the group with stories of thefts and pranks. None of them noticed him summon the knife Akefia had thrown at him, or the fact that they were being watched.

Unseen by everyone (mostly out of exhaustion) Horus sent an enchanted owl statue to Ardeth. He saw the man raise an eyebrow when he read the note, but they kept their distance for the most part.

He couldn't wait to run into the man again and give him the letter.

* * *

"What are we waiting for again?" asked Akefia bored.

"We're about to be shown the way," said Rick.

"And that means?"

"Hamunaptra doesn't show itself unless you happen to be there at dawn, otherwise it stays hidden," explained Rick.

"And if you happen to be there during the night?"

"It stays there until you leave, but after that it hides again. Took us weeks to figure that out and to leave a patrol there while we went hunting for water."

Akefia blinked.

"Wouldn't there be water in there?"

Rick shook his head.

"Not the kind you want to drink. I don't know _what_ is in that water, but when we drew it up it looked pretty bad," he said.

"Probably corpses," said Horus.

"Remember what happened after we dumped that damn Pharaoh in the river? They got him out pretty quick but a few of the river horses died from something."

"Dumped a pharaoh?" asked Evy.

"We had a grudge against a certain pharaoh, so when the bastard died and we raided his tomb we poked a few holes in the sarcophagus and dumped it in the river. His son retrieved it and returned him to the tomb, but the damage was already done. I heard the corpse became pretty moldy," answered Horus with a sharp toothed grin.

Evy wisely shut up, as Hamunaptra came into view. True to what Rick said, it had been invisible up till that point and it shimmered into view.

"Whoohoo! I can't wait to raid this place!" cheered Akefia as he got his horse to run faster.

"Weren't they still building this place after we did a string of tomb thefts?" asked Horus amused.

Akefia cackled. The only reason he had paid any attention to the word Hamunaptra when Ryou mentioned it was because they had started construction before he was sealed. Since he didn't have a reason to go to it before the treasure was loaded into it, he had never gotten the location. And the reason why he had even cared about it was because of a string of thefts that forced the pharaohs to construct it in the hopes that it would trap him.

It never had a chance to, mostly because he was sealed by the time it was complete. Afterwards he had forgotten about it completely until Horus mentioned it.

What use would it had been to raid the place when Shaadi lived in the same country and didn't want the same person who lived to anger his Pharaoh getting his hands on the book of the gods?

Once Evy beat everyone into the tombs (and in the process won a bet Rick had made with the Americans) they set up camp. Horus found the perfect spot which had enough warding magic to keep the bugs away. Specifically the scarabs which he had seen running across the tops of a tomb nearby.

He had an affinity for the things, but he wasn't an idiot. Once that was done, he went exploring with his brother standing guard.

An hour later he came back looking rather irritated.

"Ooooh...what has you so pissed off?" asked Akefia eagerly. When Horus got pissed, he tended to get stab happy with anyone who annoyed him.

"Someone...has been raiding my collection," he said annoyed.

Akefia blinked.

"Not..._that_ one?"

"The one that I scoured the tombs for every time we hit a pharaoh."

Akefia actually winced.

"How the hell did they pry them off without getting killed? I mean some of those damn things breed while we were gone for weeks at a time and they only left us alone because of that spell you use."

"I don't know, but if I find their descendants they are toast," growled Horus.

"What are you two talking about? What collection?" asked Evy.

"My collection of Jeweled Scarabs. I have a habit of collected the ones that are still hibernating and putting them on walls around our treasure hoard. Someone...has managed to find my collection and used them in this place."

Evy blinked.

"How can you tell?"

"Because I felt residual magic on them. And as far as I know I am the only one who collects them in any capacity. If you see a mound of sand show up without warning, run for it. They eat anything and leave only bones left."

"I've heard of scarabs, but I didn't know they could be collected."

"...Miss Evelyn, are you a witch, or related to one?"

"My mother was one, and my father was a muggleborn. Jonathan just doesn't have the knack like I do. Why?"

"Just curious how you knew about scarabs, since they are an exclusively magical creature," said Horus. It also explained how she was even able to wake Imhotep and not some minor mummy.

Imhotep was under some serious suppression spells, and even if the coffin was open he should have stayed asleep if the book had been read. If Evy had magic it explained why she was able to wake him up even if accidentally. And why she had been originally chosen to be a sacrifice to bring back his lover.

"Well, that and I've heard of a few archaeologists who've run across them. There's actually a warning in some of the classes about them, claiming they are extremely poisonous."

"So do you agree with the British when they claim the less magical or 'muggles' are fools?"

Evy snorted.

"Hardly. The British wizards are a pack of idiots, which is why I moved to Egypt and learned magic outside. Hogwarts is half assed at best, especially with that fool Tom stirring up a hornet's nest about blood purity."

Horus made a face.

"Tom, as in Tom Riddle? Dear lord, I've heard of him. And to be frank the Egyptians aren't much better."

"How so?"

"They've been using phoenixes to kidnap children from a sect in the desert simply because they didn't want the young ones being brainwashed by people outside the clan. They are called the Medjai, and they have had trouble with the government for at least a few decades now."

"Brainwashed?" she asked faintly.

"Tell me this. Out of all the muggleborns you know, how many have bothered to keep up their education outside magic and have gone on to college?"

"About five or six," she answered. They were her friends and among the few she still spoke to.

"And among the others, how many have adopted the blood prejudice towards non magicals?"

"Too many to count. I see your point."

"It's not just England. Quite a few of the countries bordering it on this side of the pond have fallen prey to it, with a few exceptions being China, Japan, and the Americas. If things don't change soon, the magical world will fall, and hard."

"How do you know that?"

"Chosen of Bastet. According to her and a few others, the gods of all the pantheons are displeased with how isolated and arrogant the magicals are getting, and within the next century or so they are considering a plague on Europe for those of magical blood."

Evy winced, as she knew full well a plague would do some serious damage to the inbreed society.

"Of course we'll mostly be targeting those who have far too many ancestors in common with each other. It's mostly the inbreed ones that are causing the problem, not the muggleborns. We'll have to get them out of the countries for a while, but afterwords they can clean up the mess their supposed _superiors_ caused by allowing such a foolish ideal to continue."


	11. Chapter 11

It was with a certain amount of amusement that Horus stopped Ardeth, and slipped him the letter with his seal on it. Ardeth waited a bit before he read it and cursed so well that several of his group stared at him in surprise.

Halfway into the next night, Evy started to read the book one of the Americans found...(opening a cursed chest which Akefia and Horus had felt all the way one floor below)...Horus felt the hairs on the back of his neck go up.

"Brother, pack for trouble. I'm renewing that spell to keep the scarabs out. Locusts as well, come to think of it."

"Locusts?"

"One of the side effects of the ritual used on the Priest was an arrival of the Ten wherever he went."

Akefia nodded. There was a story about the Ten plagues hitting Egypt, but it was years after their time and the pharaohs after it had headed the warning and left those who were descended from that line alone.

Just because they had different gods did _not_ make them any less dangerous. It was the same reasoning for why they gave note to Allah, and any pantheon that crossed their path.

They might follow a different set of gods, but Bast never took offense to being polite to the others.

* * *

Once they were separated (it was very easy with all the confusion) Akefia and Horus ran into the mummy himself after he got his hands on one of the Americans who were dumb enough to open the chest.

"_Greetings High Priest. I must say you could do with an illusion charm or two,"_ said Horus amused. The man looked like something Bast had chewed on and spit out.

"_You speak the ancient tongue!"_ Imhotep said in surprise.

"_We outdate you. I am Horus of the Desert and this is my brother Akefia Ba-Ku-Ra, the King of Thieves."_

Imhotep had heard of them. They were the reason Hamunaptra had been built after all. The pharaohs feared that someone else of their unique skills would come and break into the tombs.

"_To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting the Thief King and the Mage of Bastet?"_ asked Imhotep.

"_We aren't going to interfere. We were sent by Bastet due to a group of 'wizards' _(Horus spat out the term in disgust)_ getting their hands on a spell to send them into the past and set you lose. You're bad enough when confined to Egypt and the lands surrounding it. We don't need you loose on the entire world. We could be persuaded to look away while the Medjai try to clean up the mess if you would be kind enough to give us directions to the treasure room."_

Imhotep looked amused, well as amused as a corpse could. He gave them directions and the locations of the Jeweled Scarabs. The free roaming ones would avoid them anyway. They parted, both amused and interested to see how this would play out.

Since Imhotep knew the two wouldn't interfere directly (they had told him rather clearly _he_ wasn't their problem) he didn't have to worry about the ancient sorcerer spoken of in fear bothering him. He went back to find a proper sacrifice to revive his lover when Evy almost literally dropped in his lap. The amount of magic in her was perfect for what he had in mind.

* * *

"How many scarabs did they pilfer from your collection?" asked Akefia in surprise. This was the fourth series of twenty they had come across.

"Last time I did inventory, roughly a hundred and forty had gone missing. And I place a spell to alert me which ones broke free of the shell, and only twenty have. So we still have a few more to retrieve."

"I swear, I would love to know why you like these things."

"I love them because you can give them to an enemy and he won't know what hit him until after his heart is being eaten. Very few people would even recognize what it is unless they went to Egypt. And you should have seen the look on the goblin's faces when they heard I _collect_ them as a hobby!"

"So which way to the treasure room?"

"Three corridors down and take a left, and it's on the first right after the second one. He also gave us directions to the ritual room where he got caught."

"Good. Let's go there next. Hey wait, isn't that..."

"I think so. And I happen to know the spell to wake them up. How fun! We can set them on the idiots in England if they keep pissing me off!"

There was a little known loophole in the spell that kept ordinary mages from memorizing the spells in the sacred books. It was set that only a High Priest could remember them without the book on hand.

However it never actually said _what_ kind of High Priest was required. Chosen of the Gods fell into this category, as Horus was the High Priest of Bastet.

He had borrowed the Book before Evelyn had read it aloud and memorized a few spells. One of which was how to awaken the Pharaoh's bodyguards.

Horus had Maha Vialo place the jars in with the rest of the loot, with a note on what they were.

Soon the two were positively drooling at the sight of all the gold, and Horus had his Ka enlarge the treasure space twice over. They then started to throw gold into bags and handing them off to the Charmers to put in the appropriate places. They left the cursed stuff alone, and some of the other pieces.

The Medjai weren't like the Tomb Keepers. They would and did spend any caches of gold found in tombs. Their duty had shifted over the years from Pharaoh's Bodyguards to the Guardians of all the magic in the desert. They weren't honor bound to serve any of the leaders of Egypt, but rather Egypt herself.

That was the main reason why Akefia and Horus had initially contacted them with offers of friendship and help with some curses that the counters had been lost to.

Once they got over their initial reactions to the fact that two who hadn't been painted very well by the pharaohs (who were beyond miffed that the two stole from the graves without caring) the two groups got along famously

By the time they finished with half of the treasure, they went above ground to find an unamused Ardeth.

"I felt that there were still people here. Who exactly are you two?"

Horus removed his usual covering of the Medjai mark and said the usual greeting. Ardeth and the other rather cranky Medjai straightened in shock.

"I am Akefia Ba-Ku-Ra. This is my brother Horus of the Desert. We aren't about to side with Imhotep, and our reasons for being here don't involve putting him back to sleep. A group of wizards have found a spell and seek to unleash the Creature on those they deem unworthy, and we have been sent to stop them."

Ardeth listened to Akefia, and from what he could tell they were telling the truth.

"Do you require any assistance?" he asked finally. It surprised some of his group, but even they could see the mark on Horus.

"Not particularly, we only need you not to interfere when a large mass of scarabs eat the wizards alive," said Horus cheerfully.

"Scarabs?" asked Ardeth faintly.

Akefia snorted.

"My idiot brother has an affinity with the damn things, and he _collects_ the ones that aren't opened yet. Don't ask me why, because I haven't a damn clue why he handles the open ones with only a single spell to keep them from killing his ass," snorted Akefia.

Ardeth stared at Horus.

"You..._collect_...scarabs?"

"I like them. And since I show them proper respect they tend not to eat me on the rare times I forget the spell," he chirped.

Ardeth was about to ask if they needed horses when the heard a shout. Someone had come across Maha Vialo and attempted to control him.

Horus ran to his Ka beast, and was highly amused. The wizards had stumbled across Maha and assumed he was the creature, unaware that Imhotep was currently dodging a few Medjai three floors down.

Horus laughed coldly at the wizards...and it only took a few seconds to identify them as Death Eaters.

"Well, well, well. Tom Riddle's little troopers are the ones we were sent to kill. How...ironic."

One of them noticed the lightning scar and in a rare show of intelligence, put two and two together.

"So the famous Harry Potter finally shows up," he sneered.

"Hardly. I haven't gone by that name in thousands of years. My name is Horus now. Now, little Death Eaters, you have two choices. I can either give you a quick death which will involve my Ka here sending you into a den of Man Eater Bugs...or the slow death of dealing with my...pets...as it were. Which will it be?"

"Like a filthy half blood could kill us!" sneered the other Death Eaters.

"Slow and painful it is then. Akefia, do you want to watch?"

"Hell yes! These guys are jokes to the profession!"

Horus sneered at the Death Eaters, and snapped his fingers. Within seconds a shield appeared and covered them, making it impossible for them to escape. They started to sputter in denial, claiming he shouldn't be able to use magic without one of their paltry sticks. And then the real screams started.

Horus had found to his surprise that some of his collection had 'hatched', for lack of a better term, and breed into a sizable hoard. The scarabs remembered him, despite it being so long ago. As such they were willing to listen to his commands within reason.

Even bugs will show affection if a person is willing to put forth the effort. And Horus always shined the scarab's sealed form whenever he had the chance. The remembered the magic, even if they didn't recognize the person.

The Death Eaters screamed in pain as the scarabs devoured them and left only bones. The Medjai winced.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Yes. They either haven't started or are still unknown, but these are rapists, killers and murderers. These...wizards...are worse than those who steal from your tribes, because they do not see any innocents, only future victims," said Horus coldly.

Ardeth paused when he heard the fact that Horus knew someone had been stealing from their tribe. Young children were being kidnapped and they had no idea who did it.

"You...know of who steals the children?"

"Someone has bound the children of Ra into taking those touched by gods to wield magic. Bastet might be willing to place an earlier protection on the tribes if only to one up the Sun God," said Horus amused.

A loud yowl was heard, and everyone but Horus and Akefia tensed. A feline appeared on his shoulder looking highly amused.

"_It seems my protection towards the Medjai had an unexpected side effect. It has been extended through time and space. Phoenixes will no longer be able to find your tribes, let alone the children. Ra is rather angry about that,"_ she said smugly.

"He shouldn't have allowed his children to kidnap the young ones," snapped Horus.

"_Quite true, which is the only reason I haven't been called up by Osiris. I found it rather amusing that for someone who is supposedly Evil according to the children of Ra, you bear the mark of the Medjai and are favored by at least two gods of Light, one Neutral and one Chaotic Good."_

"Horus, which goddess is this?"

"_How rude of me. I am Bastet of the Moon, the Goddess of Lower Egypt. Horus is my Chosen, and friend to all who truly love Egypt."_

"Which reminds me. You might want to get in touch with the Curator and tell him Imhotep will be making an appearance soon. Our only task was to keep the wizards from controlling the Creature."

"_You have one more to kill before the task is complete. Unfortunately he is not in the city at the moment."_

"A pity. Still, I should have expected it was his flunkies sent to control the Creature," said Horus amused.

"_Then you will enjoy this even more. The last one who came with them is the traitor who killed your birth parents! Capture him and you can help the one called Sirius earn his freedom!"_ cackled Bastet.

"And from what I remember the man can turn into a rat. Shall I give him to you later Bastet?"

Bastet's laughter surprised the Medjai there. Akefia and Horus left for Cairo so they could meet up with Evy. Imhotep was already heading in that direction anyway.

The arrangement was simple enough. Akefia and Horus would ignore the former Priest so long as he left them alone.

* * *

Horus didn't bother to hide his laughter when he saw Imhotep chased from the room (and by extension Evelyn who had been sleeping) by her pet cat. Bastet often helped Anubis find spirits who had escaped the afterlife to drag them back.

He was about to exit the room when he saw the rat. And it didn't fit at all.

He snatched it up off the street, ignoring the cry of disgust from Evy at the sight of the thing and held a knife to it's neck.

"Now little traitor, shall I kill you now and drop your wretched body off with your master or would you prefer to end up in prison where you belong?" purred Horus.

The rat squeaked, but wisely didn't try to bite him in attempt to escape. Then again it might have been because of the odd bugs that had been following him for the past two days.

An hour later Horus was in the museum with the rat already under strict guard in the room with all the treasure and a threat to undo the spell should he try to escape.

Peter Pettrigrew was a traitor and a coward, but a complete idiot he was not. He knew better than to piss off someone who collected Jeweled Scarabs of all things and had them lining his treasure room.

With the wizards taken care of, Bastet offered to let them go home early. Horus felt like sticking around, if only to have a second go at the treasure room. They had to cut their raid of the place short because the Medjai had come too close.

Even so, Horus borrowed one of Bastet's special bags to put enough gold for Ardeth and his tribes to live well for the next few years. Some of it came from his stash.

It wasn't like they stole gold because they were greedy. They did it for the thrill. It was part of the reason Bastet sometimes helped them. And the fact that Horus and Akefia parted with it to the less fortunate without a second thought (often giving it to children who's parents were suffering under the pharaoh's taxes) only endeared them to the lighter gods.

Well, except for Ra, but who cared what he thought?


	12. Chapter 12

Horus and Akefia watched as Ardeth and Rick flew on that bizarre antique plane and laughed their asses off while they tried to stay on.

Had Rick known that Horus had _flying_ transport and liked them enough to share, chances were good that they would have been asked for help.

Instead, they got to watch them suffer through the flight.

"I will never speak a bad word about those pets of yours again!" cackled Akefia.

Horus snickered. When the undead mob created by Imhotep came around, Horus had his 'babies' eat anything that came too close to where they were enjoying a nice cup of tea. Scarabs didn't discriminate about the flesh they ate.

On the plus side, they did find out why the things ended up in those odd shells. It turned out that the scarabs often seen on walls (and collected by Horus) were in fact the _eggs_ of the insects. The reason why they tended to attack when they hatched was because by the time they broke free they were voraciously hungry, having devoured the shell's 'yolk' for lack of a better term after only a few years.

Because of his love of the things, the scarabs never bothered him or Akefia who was often roped into helping him shine the egg shells. As far as the scarabs were concerned, the two brothers were their caretakers.

Imhotep apparently noticed this fact (or he was tired of having to replace the dead bodies that went near the two) because eventually they were left alone.

Surprisingly enough, this time the curator lived since Allah was paying attention. Apparently the appearance of Bast's chosen was enough to catch his attention.

Horus dropped him off at the nearest hospital for his wounds, and they went to follow Imhotep.

He wouldn't bother them while they were raiding the ancient city, and they would ignore his priests. Seeing Evy save Rick and Ardeth by kissing the undead priest just made them laugh harder.

While flying carpets were outdated, they still worked.

* * *

"_Hello Imhotep. I see you've found your sacrifice."_

"_Mage, Thief. I take it you've found the treasury?"_

"_Indeed. I must thank you for giving us directions."_

"_If you'll excuse me, I must awaken my priests."_

"_We won't keep you. I've found another cache of scarabs that I intend to...liberate...from the walls."_

Imhotep chuckled. Horus' fascination with scarabs certainly never made it to the tombs.

* * *

"Hello Ardeth. I think you guys need directions, because the statue of Horus is in the opposite direction," said Horus pleasantly.

"How the hell do you know that?"

Horus hooked a thumb to the wall five feet from him.

"That right there is a directory. Being able to _read_ is a bit of a requirement for thieves if they want to live."

"Directory?" said Rick in disbelief.

"What? You think the planners kept the directions of where everything was supposed to go on a piece of paper? While this place was being built they had guards everywhere even during construction."

"Then do you know how the hell they built the pyramids?" asked Jonathan. He had to ask, otherwise Evy would kill him later.

"Are you nuts?! If we went anywhere near those things while they were being built we would have been roped into building the damn things! Besides, they were _after_ our time!"

"How old are you two anyway?" asked Rick.

"Physically? In our twenties. In reality? Both of us lived during the Nameless Pharaoh's time and we hated his father."

"So you know where the statue is?"

"Follow us. There was a cache of scarabs we haven't hit."

"What is it with you and scarabs?" asked Rick.

"I like them. It amuses me to hear idiots pick them up only to get their hearts eaten out."

"I'm amazed that your animal form isn't a bloody scarab."

"By the way, what the hell happened to that fat pig that followed you here?" asked Ardeth.

"Killed by scarab from what I can tell. Fat bastard tried to steal them, didn't know one hatched, and then went running screaming only to crash into a wall. He was dead _long_ before reached us, though I got to admit that it was a hell of a show. Most aren't able to run after the scarabs eat their heart," chuckled Horus. He had found it _very_ entertaining indeed.

"I thought your pets went for the internal organs first? How the fuck was he able to scream?"

"It went after the heart first. He must have been running for only a few seconds, and there was only one hatched scarab near where Jonathan found his bag."

"I'm amazed the sleaze didn't accidentally hatch one," said Akefia.

"I CAN hear you, you know!" yelled Jonathan.

"We know! How you've managed to survive this long _must_ be the luck of the gods!" retorted Akefia.

"You know what they say, brother. The god's favor fools and gamblers."

"Ain't that the truth."

Akefia laughed his ass off when Jonathan stupidly awakened the pharaoh's mummified guards. Too bad Horus only found ten of those jars.

"_How did he managed to survive this long?"_

"_Fools and gamblers brother. Fools and gamblers. Jonathan is clearly both. Still, to try to read the incantation aloud when he barely remembered his hieroglyphics is just plain _stupid_."_

"_So when do we act?"_

"_Who the hell said anything about acting? We already rescued Ardeth, let's help ourselves to more treasure!"_

"_I love the way you think! To the treasure room then!"_

* * *

They ran into Beni, the coward who had been helping Imhotep (why the mummy hadn't killed him yet was a mystery) carrying treasure out of the tombs. They kicked him out of the room and went back to work. There was more treasure than usual to steal, and Horus was very well aware how much the coins were worth.

He had practically cornered the market on genuine ancient coins since his return. The goblins were more than happy to help for a small fee whenever a collector wanted to add them to his collection.

It was the first time Horus had ever found a good use for all those copper coins he had around his treasure room. He had millions of those lying around.

When they felt the presence of Anubis, they did pause, but quickly went back to work. The scarab mounds occasionally cropped up, but they never went near the two.

Horus had Maha Vialo create a new pocket dimension for the bugs to run around in and filled it with sand from Egypt's desert. The little critters loved it, and quickly scampered through the portal into their new home.

At least now Horus had a place to throw Dumbledore if he continued to annoy him.

When the walls started to close in around them, Horus looked at his brother.

"Should we leave?"

"I've gotten my fill of gold. Let's leave the rest for the Medjai."

The two threw their sacks over their shoulder, walked into the Shadow Realm and popped out near Evy and Rick.

"I see you two are fine," said Horus amused.

"Where were you?"

"Raiding the treasury. Consider this my wedding present to you two," said Horus grinning.

Rick looked in the bag. It was mostly coins and a few odd artifacts.

"Why coins?"

"Do you have any idea how much these things are worth to collectors? I happen to have the black market in antique coins covered, and they go for more than the metal itself is worth. The pieces you can sell to the museums for a very good price. Like I said, consider this our wedding present to you. Something tells me this won't be the first time we have to keep wizards from using the Priest to further their own ends."

Once Akefia gave Ardeth his bag (as a down-payment for continued assistance later) the two went deeper into the desert.

"_**Ready to go home?"**_

"You better believe it. The sooner we deliver this traitor, the sooner Sirius can be free to walk around without the Ministry bothering us."

The English Ministry had been quite annoying when they learned Sirius was in Japan. Apparently they weren't pleased that the Japanese Aurors had cleared him.

* * *

"How was your trip?" asked Mokuba.

"Very good indeed. I found some of my missing pets and raided an ancient tomb. Which reminds me... Catch."

Mokuba caught the small bag, and opened it to reveal about fifty gold coins and a small statue of Hathor.

"Wow! Is this real?"

"From the City of the Dead itself. Even got a good Ouroboros bracelet with an Egyptian dragon instead of a snake for your brother. Figured he'd get a kick out of it."

Seto did, in fact, like the bracelet. The dragon was based on a living one that had been alive before the form had been breed out over a period of several thousand years.

He briefly considered starting a coin collection before dismissing it.

* * *

_Two months after the Battle City tournament... _

"Would someone mind telling me why the hell the Realm of the Beasts is spilling out?" asked Seth, drinking his tea.

"No idea. Last I heard the Bastard went to try to get a hint as to what to do next to get his memories back with only two of the god cards. He still wants to try to win Slifer off of you," said Bakura.

"Not a chance. Now why are these fools hanging around us? They've been following me for a few hours now..."

"Duel them and find out."

"Not a chance. They have the same feel as someone with an item in their deck. There is no way in Amemit's unholy appetite I am going near those bastards."

"I have an idea..."

Seth grinned evilly as Bakura told him the idea.

"Oh that is perfect! Let's draw them out!"

* * *

Three hours later, the people following them challenged Seth to a duel, only to find themselves above and endless desert with no discerning landmarks aside from a small oasis.

(He only added that so he could have a place to sit while he polished the scarab shells in peace.)

"What is this?!" said the nameless duelist.

"This is my special hide away. Win, and you can leave with your lives. Lose, and you get to enjoy wandering around here looking for the exit...unless my pets get to you first. Find the exit and you can get Slifer...and a few pieces of my treasure."

Seth believed in taking risks. He did have an exit for people who ended up here by accident. And anyone who was lucky enough to survive walking across the desert and _not_ get eaten by the scarabs deserved some sort of reward!

Considering Slifer gave him a pendant to summon him directly without the card, Seth had left the piece of cardboard in the treasure room to keep the Pharaoh from attempting to steal it...or letting his cheer squad get any ideas.

Being robbed by them would be beyond embarrassing.

In the end, Seth won but he learned something very important. Someone with a power to rival the Items was after the Pharaoh. And since they had already stolen the other two god cards, Seth didn't want to be around to face the harder opponents.

"_**It seems the little godling has a tough trial ahead."**_

"Please tell me you have another mission for us. I am _not_ about to help the little Pharaoh!"

"_**As it so happens, I do. That pest known as Voldemort is about to try to capture the creature again. Only this time they will be in England."**_

"Oh joy, my least favorite country. Let me get a few others. I know Marik and Ryou won't want to deal with this crap."

* * *

"So let me get this straight. The Realm of the Beasts has opened up into our world, and the Pharaoh has to deal with it since he was the one to seal it off the first time. You, however, have been given another mission by Bastet that will lead to England and possible Egypt if we're lucky."

"Yup."

"Right, what should we pack and when do we leave?" asked Marik.

"Right after I've informed Kaiba. I think this time around he will be directly involved, so we're taking Mokuba with us to avoid him getting kidnapped."

* * *

"Where are you going this time around?" asked Seto.

"England and possibly Egypt. It alright if we take Mokie with us?"

"Why Mokuba?"

"One, he won't be kidnapped during this mess the midget is in this time around. Two, he asked if he could join us next time. And Three, we can protect him better."

"You had me at the first reason. Just make sure he doesn't get too hurt during your trip."

"You'll be happy to know I recently got my pilot's license," said Seth amused.

"Good. You can borrow one of the smaller jets. Be sure to bring back something good for me to show off. That bracelet of yours has brought me nothing but good luck recently."

"You're going to need it. Remember all that trouble we had with Pegasus and the soul stealing?"

"Yes?"

"Apparently whatever these new people are using is just as bad. So I would advise not losing."

"Oh hell no. Another soul stealing bit?"

"In old times, it was pretty damn popular. Want something that will help?"

"If you wouldn't mind!"

"I could lend you Slifer. I have another way of summoning him, but I still have the card. One condition though..."

"I won't give it to the Pharaoh. If he wants the damn thing so bad he'll have to duel you for it whenever you're in a tournament."

"And that is why I like dealing with you and not him," chuckled Seth. With a flick of his wrist, the card appeared. Kaiba put it in the deck with his Blue Eyes.

The fact Seth trusted him with the card and not the Pharaoh just gave Kaiba another reason to like his rather odd bodyguard.

(Seth had been promoted to being _both_ Kaiba brother's bodyguards, so long as Dharc kept an eye on Mokuba. The fact that apparently Seth owned a rival company in Europe just amused Kaiba.)

Seth took off right before another set of duelists came after him for Slifer. To his amusement, they couldn't get one of their better duelists on the plane before it took off, because Seth chose at random which one they would use.

* * *

"This is so fun! So where are we going?" asked Mokuba.

"We're off to England. Luckily for us, your brother had a plane that wouldn't be too conspicuous."

"What do you mean?"

"We're flying into the past. I'll tell you when we're about to fly through the time stream."

A loud yowl was heard, and Mokuba turned to find a long black cat on the seat next to him.

"_**I like your idea. And a simple notice-me-not charm will keep people from asking too many questions."**_

"Hello Bastet. Enjoying the flight?"

The cat gave a small laugh. Halfway through the flight, Seth called out that they were entering the stream...and everyone looked outside. Mokuba came to sit next to him, since he was a good co-pilot.

"Wow..."

"Kinda like _Doctor Who_, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah! Hang on while I get my camera!"

Mokuba went into his bag and started to record the stream. It wasn't like pictures of events would stick to the digital camera.

(That only happened if you were in the stream itself without any sort of vehicle or shell around you.)

"This is so awesome! Wait till Seto sees this!"

Seth laughed. He banked slightly and the stream fell off. He had made sure to appear a hundred miles off England so no one would wonder where he came from. Because radar wasn't nearly as good here, it was unlikely anyone would ask questions about why his registration was off.

For the first time in months, Seth landed in England.


	13. Chapter 13

Mokuba was having a blast, taking all sorts of pictures with his digital camera. Beside him Ryou and Marik were looking around with interest.

Seth took one look at the scene around him and cursed.

"What was that for?" asked Ryou confused.

"We're right in the middle of the damn Blood war that Tom Riddle is waging against the old goat. A little warning would have been nice Bastet."

"_**And miss your reaction to the truth? You do realize that you can meet your own grandparents in this time."**_

"Right, first things first, let's find the O'Connell family."

"Why?" asked Akefia.

"Because you _know_ Imhotep is going to be pissed when he wakes up."

"Point. Let's go see Rick then."

* * *

By the time Horus found the O'Connell family's house, they could hear someone shooting inside. Horus looked at his brother.

"Marik, Ryou, keep an eye on Mokuba. Allah knows his brother would have all our heads if he was in the middle of a gun fight," said Horus. Ryou chuckled.

"Anyone comes to close with a gun, I'll set Malik on him," grinned Marik evilly.

"You get into any trouble, use the Ring to summon me. Got that?" said Akefia. Since Horus' arrival, Ryou found the spirit much easier to live with. Akefia treated Ryou like their innocent younger brother, which suited him just fine because he didn't fear his black outs anymore.

Akefia and Horus split up. Akefia went to help Rick while Horus went to assist Evy.

"Horus!"

"Hello again Evy!" said Horus, cheerfully using the sword he stole from Hamunaptra to cut off hands.

"Mum! Who's that?" asked a small blond boy.

"Ohho! I see you put the treasure we gave you to good use!" said Horus grinning.

"Now's not the time! They're after the bracelet!"

"Which one?"

"Anubis!"

Horus blinked.

"You were dumb enough to find the bracelet of Anubis during the year of the Scorpion? Anyone who puts it on will end up only having seven days to find the oasis and get to the temple before it kills them!" said Horus incredulous.

He was the only one to hear the boy's gasp of surprise.

During the commotion, Evy was taken and so was the chest. Horus grabbed the boy while Ardeth covered his back.

* * *

"Okay, now can someone _please_ explain what the hell you woke up this time?" complained Akefia.

"I can take a guess. If Ardeth is here, then Imhotep is as well. Your tribe's primary duty is to insure creatures like Imhotep _stay_ buried, since your tribe has the largest number of god-touched in each generation. Am I right?" said Horus.

Ardeth merely nodded. The protection Horus gave him the last time they met primarily protected his tribe from the Ministry. Because of this, their numbers had jumped to nearly double.

"So, how long has it been since we last saw each other?" asked Akefia.

"Nine years. Why?" asked Rick, who took a closer look at his old friends.

"We time jump. Apparently Tom hasn't given up on using Imhotep, so Bastet sent us back again. We bring friends this time too," said Horus.

"Can we come out now?" complained Mokuba.

"The shooting's over with," Horus called back.

"Who're they?" asked Rick.

"I know what one of them is," growled Ardeth.

"Ardeth, back off. Marik hates the Tomb Keepers as much as you do, and he was born into them. His sister is the one who takes pride in being a half-assed guardian," said Horus.

"Normally I would try to defend them, but he's right. I never wanted to be a Tomb Keeper, and the only reason we haven't been able to stop the goblins raiding the tombs of the mages is because they refuse to renegotiate the deal my father made until I reach 17. That being said, I have more respect for the Medjai than I do my own clan."

Ardeth's glare dropped a bit at that.

"That being said, let me introduce my friends here. Pale boy here is Ryou Bakura, Akefia's younger brother, Mokuba Kaiba, who asked to come along next time we went to stop Imhotep, and Mari Ishtar, my descendant."

"What?" said Rick and Ardeth.

"Long story short, I was raised around the same time as the Nameless Pharaoh and forceably dragged back a few years ago. Before that time, I had a friend named Peri who ended up having my kid, resulting in Marik's line."

"Still can't believe my many times great-grandmother was from a brothel..." grumbled Marik.

"Actually, Peri was an herb seller. The problem was that she was so plain-looking no one wanted anything to do with her. Fortunately for her, Horus is a nice person," snickered Akefia.

"Peri was a cute girl," nodded Horus.

"So what do we do now?"

"Now we have to retrieve Evy and find out where the hell Amh Shere is. Otherwise whoever's wearing the bracelet is going to die on the seventh day," said Horus.

"Bracelet? What bracelet?" said Akefia.

"The one that lead to the Scorpion King. You know, that one idiot who ran Gomorrah until the plague hit?"

"Dear Bast, that story is as old as we are! Wasn't that the guy who killed the barbarian and married the Seer?" said Akefia.

"The Akkadian. One of the last," said Horus nodding.

"You two sound like you've been there," said Rick.

"Well, not really, but that story wasn't nearly as old. In fact it was something of a bedtime story for children when we were growing up. Legend has it an Akkadian named Mathias killed the barbarian king who had been decimating the nearby kingdoms and united them until a plague hit. His queen was a powerful Seer, and was one of those killed. He wandered around for a few years before saving a jungle kingdom and marrying the princess. And that was before he got it in his head to try to reunite the place all over again, which lead to his defeat. That happened roughly fifty, maybe seventy-five years before I crashed into you?" asked Horus.

"It was in my grandfather's time, and he watched the King burn down a palace from the streets," said Akefia.

"...You two sound like old fogies," said Mokuba flatly.

Alex, Rick's son, snickered in agreement.

"Maybe, but we're still a hell of a lot more fun to be around than your brother. Coincidentally, don't tell him we dragged you into the middle of a gun fight when we get back."

Mokuba snickered.

"Hey I know him! He's the curator! He works at the British Museum!" said Alex, looking at the photo Ardeth had.

"Are you sure?"

"You better believe him, he spends more time there than he does at home," said Rick annoyed.

"So where's the bracelet?" asked Akefia.

"Ask Alex here. I noted that you seemed unusually interested in what happens when someone puts on the bracelet."

"Well Alex?" asked Akefia.

Alex pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tacky looking gold bracelet around his wrist.

"Ugh...I wouldn't steal that unless someone paid me," said Akefia.

"It is rather tacky," admitted Horus.

"My car only seats five," said Rick.

"Oh don't worry about that. We'll just make the Aurors work overtime obliviating any who sees us," said Horus.

"By putting that bracelet on you have started a chain of events that could bring about the next apocalypse!" said Ardeth.

Alex gasped. Mokuba snorted.

"My brother keeps ending up in the middle of that nonsense quite a bit. Apocalypses generally aren't as bad as you think," he snorted.

"He has a valid point. End of world events happen all the time and are averted at the last second even more often," said Horus.

"You, lighten up. You, big trouble. You, get in the car," said Rick, to Ardeth, Alex and Jonathan respectively. Horus snickered.

* * *

Horus, Akefia, Marik and Ryou landed while Mokuba stayed in the car with Alex.

"Right. Marik, you want to flip with Ryou to see who guards the car with these two?" asked Horus.

"Nah. I've seen enough museums for a lifetime. I'll stay here," said Marik.

"How about you, Malik?" asked Akefia.

Rick and Ardeth blinked and next to Marik was a doppelganger beside him, only he looked much more evil and insane.

"_Will I get to shoot people?"_ asked Malik in Arabic.

"_Only if you avoid Nefertiti and the people here. Deal?"_ replied Akefia.

"Wait, did you say Nefertiti? I thought we were here to rescue Evy?" asked Jonathan.

"Your sister happens to be the reincarnation of Nefertiti. Since Malik is a creature of the Shadow Realm, he would recognize her soul faster than he would her more modern counterpart. Particularly since she was the guardian of the bracelet Alex has," said Horus.

"Remember Malik, aim for anyone who isn't coming in with us, or the reincarnation of Nefertiti," said Akefia.

"I get to shot people. You think I'm going to give you a reason to take the gun away?" asked Malik.

"You only listen to Horus because he tends to brain you with blunt objects," said Akefia.

"Which reminds me. Marik, if we come out running you'll need something to brain people with," said Horus. He summoned his favorite bat and Malik winced, taking half a step back.

"What about me?" asked Ryou.

"Ryou, I know for a fact you have your wand on you. If anything that isn't one of us here comes out, or worse a mummy, start casting fire spells as fast as you can. Mummies tend to go up in flames rather quickly. And I know they wouldn't be stupid enough to try to bring my babies here," said Horus.

"You and your bloody scarabs..." muttered Akefia.

As they walked through the museum, they were in a rather odd grouping. Ardeth and Rick took point, Malik in the middle with Horus and Akefia took the back. Malik was only in the middle by din of fact that Horus wouldn't hesitate to brain him if he did something stupid, and he didn't want to have to reach past his brother to do it.

They could hear chanting, and Horus grimaced.

"Those idiots are casting a spell from the Book of the Dead in the middle of a museum filled with lesser mummies. At least most of those are in cases," said Horus.

"How can you tell?" asked Ardeth.

"Only a high priest can memorize spells from either book. However, Chosen are considered high priests in their own right," explained Horus.

By the time they reached the area where the chanting was coming from, Imhotep had just been revived...and Ankh-su-Namen's reincarnation was there as well.

"You know, a couple of years ago this would have seemed really strange to me," said Rick, patting Ardeth on the shoulder.

Horus spotted Evy, and pointed her out to Malik. The wild-eyed spirit grinned, and marked her in his mind. Now he wouldn't hit her when he started to shoot.

(Meanwhile, back at the car...)

Alex was describing to a rapt audience about the Scorpion King's pyramid and about a massive diamond. Mokuba was disenchanted with the idea. Marik and Ryou were playing Duel Monsters on the trunk on top of a piece of cloth that Ryou had spelled to remain dry.

So he changed the subject to games Alex liked.

The two were soon having an interesting debate about games, some of which Alex had never even heard of because they were from the future. Still, at least Mokuba wasn't bored anymore.

Horus frowned as they went to burn Evy. He rather liked the woman, and from what he could tell she was in enough shock that she hadn't thought to cast the flame freezing charm.

Finally Evy came to her senses and cast it wandlessly. Which meant even if Rick couldn't get to her in time she would be fine. Rick actually leaped across the flames to rescue her.

Soon it became an all out gun fight with Ardeth and Marik shooting at anyone who wasn't friend while Akefia and Horus used their ability to appear from the shadows to slit throats indiscriminately.

Horus popped beside Malik long enough to tell the spirit he could mind crush whoever he damn well pleased so long as they hadn't been marked as friendly before hand.

And with that, all bets were off.

His insane cackling sent shivers of fear down the spines of those who sought to awaken Imhotep and use him to command the Army of Anubis. Magic, bullets and knives were thrown around like party favors. Horus noted that a few wizards were caught in the fray, likely minions of Voldemort sent from the future.

It wasn't until Imhotep summoned the mummified guards that the curator had dug up that things changed for his side.

"_DESTROY THEM!"_ roared Imhotep.

The mummies roared in reply, and ran towards the group.

* * *

"I HATE DEALING WITH MUMMIES!" yelled Akefia.

"MALIK! FIRE SPELLS NOW!" roared Horus, running for his life.

Malik started to run awkwardly as he shot fire spells behind them, most of them missing by a mile. However, they did destroy a few of the lesser mummies that had been awoken by the ceremony. It would be interesting to see how they explained the scorch marks.

The second Horus saw what Jonathan had stolen in place of Rick's car, his jaw dropped and he resisted the urge to laugh hysterically with great difficulty.

Trust a squib to steal the Knight Bus. The shrunken head was cussing Jonathan out big time.

"What happened to my car?!" demanded Rick.

"This idiot broke the key in the ignition out of hysterics!" said Mokuba.

"HE WHAT?!"

"Shut up and get on already! Jonathan, budge over! You won't be able to handle driving this damn thing!" said Horus.

Jonathan was handed a gun, and everyone piled in. Malik, Ryou and Akefia took the top, ready to shoot fire spells at anything that came near them while Rick reloaded his guns next to them. Ardeth, Marik and Jonathan got theirs ready while Evy kept an eye on Alex and Mokuba. Horus was better at driving at high speeds, which was the only reason he was able to get his pilot's license. As such, he was deemed driver of the bus while everyone else took out the mummies chasing them.

Rick watched the mummies run on his car, crushing it and he looked pissed.

"Oh I hate mummies..." he growled.

"Glad to see me now?" asked Ardeth.

"Just like old times, huh?" quipped Rick.

The escape had begun.


	14. Chapter 14

Ryou and Marik got rather good at shooting the mummies when they started to run along the walls like demented spiders. Horus was going to be real interested in how they explained those scorch marks to the muggles. Ought to be amusing.

Rick and Ardeth were shooting the things, and Rick managed to blast one into pieces. Horus was practically flooring the bus, since he knew the thing was beyond fast. One of the mummies came in, but the lower half had been blasted off. Horus yelled to Marik to give Mokuba the bat, and the kid took the hint. He hit the mummy like a pro, splattering it out of the bus into pieces. He was coughing up mummy dust for a minute or two.

"Tell my brother about that and you're a dead man," said Mokuba, irritated. The taste was beyond foul.

Horus just laughed.

Above them, another mummy was practically ripping the roof apart trying to get at the shooters. Rick kept shooting, but the mummy knocked his gun away. Akefia stuck the mummy with a knife which didn't do much good.

"THIS IS WHY I HATE MUMMIES! The bastards are always a bitch to kill!" yelled Akefia.

"INCENDIO MAXIMA!" yelled Ryou.

The mummy became a fireball and Rick had to duck.

"TURN!" yelled Evy, as the last mummy was about to skewer Ardeth with some long nails.

Horus jerked the wheel, and the shrunken head banged against the windshield. It was so ticked that it let off a whole slew of new curses, some of which Mokuba and Alex kept back for another day.

"I hear either of you repeating that, you'll get a whipping you won't soon forget," Evy warned them. Horus chuckled.

"Everyone alright down here?" yelled Rick.

Marik blasted the mummy in a spray of flames.

"Just fucking peachy! Gods, that was more annoying than having to deal with the fucking Pharaoh!" complained Marik.

Horus chuckled.

He finally stopped near the bridge, leaning heavily against the steering wheel.

"YOU LOT ARE GOING TO PAY FOR ALL THIS! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S GOING TO COST TO GET THIS BUS BACK INTO SERVICE!?"demanded the shrunken head.

"Oh come off it! Just tell them to charge it all to my vault," said Horus.

"Oh yeah? And what's your name jerk?" demanded the head.

"Dumbledore."

"You'll never ride this bus again Dumbledore, if I have anything to do with it!" snarled the head.

Akefia was trying hard not to snicker at what his brother just did. That old goat was in for a nasty shock when the aurors came to retrieve the bus.

Mokuba and Alex leaned against the back of the bus, near the doors...when suddenly they sprang open and both were grabbed by a man wearing red. The same one Ardeth had been fighting back at the house. Horus turned in time to see it happen and swore.

"SON OF A BITCH! Even in a different time he _still_ gets kidnapped!" yelled Horus.

Ryou looked very amused.

"You know this is becoming repetitive. Maybe we should see if someone cursed him with a kidnapping spell or something," said Ryou.

"How can you be so calm! Your son was just kidnapped!" said Evy.

"SON!? Oh my gods... That is so..." said Horus, who broke down laughing hysterically.

"Evy, Mokuba isn't Horus' son. Horus is his _bodyguard_. In fact, Mokuba's older brother allowed him to come in order to avoid his brother being caught up in the mess a certain pain in the ass is involved in," said Akefia, amused as hell.

Once Horus had calmed down enough to be coherent, he finally got up.

"In any event, we better ditch the bus. The Aurors aren't going to be happy to find the people who stole it and you know they're going to charge us with repairs if we don't get out of here," said Horus, wiping tears of amusement out of his eye.

"How? Where are we going to find transportation around here?" asked Ryou.

"Hold on a minute..."

Horus reached into his bag and found a large sculpture of a hawk. He blew on it firmly, then threw it off the bridge.

A few moments later something massive with wings flew past him and landed on the railing.

Seeing the shocked looks on their faces, Horus winked at them all.

"Being a trained sorcerer from 5,000 years ago has its perks, particularly if the gods happen to favor you. He could last us long enough until we get into Egypt, but the disillusionment charm won't last nearly that long. Let's get our things and head to the airport. The plane we used to get here should serve us until we get to Egypt."

Most opted to ride on the hawk construct's back, but Akefia and Horus decided to ride on the rather sharp talons. If any aurors came too close, they would need the extra mobility to wing them.

* * *

Evy, Rick, Jonathan and Ardeth had taken the fact that the others were from the future with a grain of salt. However once they got into the plane that Horus borrowed from Seto Kaiba, the fact suddenly became a hell of a lot more convincing.

"What is half of this stuff?" asked Jonathan.

"Don't bother stealing anything. You aren't nearly advanced enough to handle even half of it," said Marik.

"That being said, anyone who wants to can hit the mini bar!" said Horus, dropping into the pilot's seat.

"Hold on, what are you doing?" asked Evy.

"Who did you think flew the plane? Akefia?" asked Horus.

"I can barely operate the TV remote," said Akefia in amusement.

"What about the tower?" said Rick.

"This is a privately listed plane, and a few coins means no one is going to ask for our flight number. Do you have an unlisted air field where we can land?" asked Horus.

"I know a few," said Rick.

"Why can't you people ever keep your feet on the ground?" asked Ardeth.

"What, don't tell me you actually rode a boat all the way to England!" said Akefia.

Ardeth didn't look him in the eye. Apparently he had.

"Dude, you mean to tell me that you're afraid to fly?" said Marik.

"No, I just don't like to. The only time I've every flown was on that death trap that Imhotep crashed," said Ardeth.

Horus, when he heard that, paused in his pre-flight checklist. He started to shake, then laughed uncontrollably.

"Oh gods that was hilarious to watch! None of you even considered asking us for help, and we flew there alongside you the entire time!" he said cackling.

Akefia was alongside him chortling.

"Alright everyone, fasten your seat belts! We're about to take off!" said Horus.

* * *

Sometime after take off, Ardeth migrated to the seat next to Horus.

"So you truly travel through time?"

"A bit of a habit, I'm afraid. First time Bastet dropped me on top of Akefia. Second time someone dragged me though the time stream in order to beat some wizard who thought he could cheat death. Third time was when we ran into you at Hamunaptra. This is my fourth trip."

A long black cat appeared next to Ardeth.

"_**It seems the gods have decided you and your brother are the best go to team in case wizards decide to mess with the time line. That being said, we have a job waiting for you when you get back."**_

"Time Turners?"

"_**Time Turners. These idiots keep getting their hands on the modified ones that go back years instead of hours."**_

Horus blinked.

"I thought they kept using some obscure spell."

"_**Nope. Modified Time Turners. Some fool got the idea while watching **_**Doctor Who****_ apparently. The only good thing is that the ones they are able to make are unable to go forward. Anyway, I want you and your brother to do what you do best and steal them. The less those fools meddle in time, the better it is for everyone."_**

"By the way, is there anything against me stealing Imhotep and bringing him back with us?"

Ardeth shot him an odd look.

"_**I can ask, but why do you want to know?"**_

"As fun as it is returning to see Rick and Evy, trying to keep Imhotep from being used by those damn wizards is a royal pain in the ass. If we take him back with us, he gets a second chance and we can keep an eye on him. Besides, it's not his fault he fell for a power-hungry bitch."

"_**I'll let you know what the others say. Anubis might want to claim him for waking Mathias up."**_

"As long as he takes most of those powers away, I don't care. Reduce him to a normal high priest and let him deal with that damn Pharaoh, and I bet he'll be much easier to live with. In any case, I sincerely doubt that reincarnated princess will save him if things get messy."

"_**Hmm... You may have a point. Force him to live outside his time, and he'll turn to the only people who understand him. Much easier to handle than an immortal mummy with god-like powers."**_

By the time they landed on the unregistered airfield, Rick had secured their transport. They would take a dirigible since it was quieter, and more importantly easier to land. Bastet would take the plane back to its proper time to refuel before bringing it back to Horus. The reason why he chose this particular model was because it had turbines that went straight up and down like a helicopter and could make take offs from sand.

Ardeth took that chance to speak to the Twelve Commanders, all who gave Horus a nod. Horus gave them the traditional greeting and wished them luck. He did laugh at the name Ardeth had for his hawk though.

* * *

Mokuba and Alex were taken to see Imhotep personally. When Imhotep removed his mask, Mokuba was surprised, but not particularly frightened.

At this point he was just glad Horus had been teaching him to speak Ancient Egyptian.

An hour later Mokuba sensed Imhotep's magic surge, which meant he had a proper body again.

Since dealing with Lock-Nah was rather boring, Mokuba decided to slip past him and hide in Imhotep's car. At least then he wouldn't have to listen to Alex irritate the man.

Imhotep was rather amused that Horus' charge came into his car without anyone knowing. The boy had magic and was well-trained to slip past the guards.

Then again, most of them tried to avoid him after he was resurrected.

"_I am impressed that one so young as yourself is so comfortable in my presence,"_ commented Imhotep.

"_My brother is a reincarnated High Priest to the same Pharaoh Akefia and Horus hate so much. And frankly you are not nearly as scary as being stuck in the Shadow Realm without a monster to guard you,"_ said Mokuba flatly.

Imhotep looked at Mokuba hard.

"_Why is it that you are not terrified of being near me? I could kill you in a heartbeat," _asked Imhotep.

"_I'm friends with Horus and Akefia, who are far more stab happy than you are. Coincidentally, what is your plan once you actually _do_ conquer to world?"_

Imhotep blinked. He hadn't expected that question.

Mokuba looked at Imhotep expectantly. He knew _exactly_ how to deal with the awakened mummy, and frankly Imhotep was like a more calm Akefia.

Imhotep thought about it, and when he answered the question Mokuba pointed out a few flaws in his plan. Amused, the former priest discussed with the boy how he was supposed to rule the world. He was very surprised to find Mokuba with a clear idea of how things worked and a few pointers should his plan succeed.

Imhotep was so amused by Mokuba that he decided to keep the boy alive once he succeeded in killing the Scorpion King and ruling the world. The boy had some good ideas.

He went back to reading his book when Imhotep's reincarnated lover came in. She didn't even notice him, which was odd. When the train screeched to a halt, Mokuba waited in the train car while Imhotep went to find Alex.

He could only assume Alex was the one who caused the train to stop, since he heard shooting.

* * *

"How the hell did you manage to escape that guy anyway?" asked Mokuba.

Alex was chained to a pole, while Mokuba was free to move around once he made it clear he wasn't interested in escaping. He was more interested in taking pictures and seeing this oasis.

"I broke the toilet from the floor and stopped the train long enough to escape through a hole. Why aren't you chained up?" asked Alex annoyed.

"Because they could care less if I just wander around taking pictures so long as I don't try to escape. It doesn't hurt that unlike you, I didn't try to annoy the one in charge of keeping an eye on us. Well, that and apparently Imhotep likes me."

"That undead bag of bones likes you?" said Alex incredulous.

"Well yeah. I speak Ancient Egyptian and I don't find him that scary. That, and the fact that I helped him iron out a few flaws in his plan to take over the world."

Alex's eyes bugged.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I know for a fact he won't succeed. If he did, my brother and I wouldn't exist and neither would our time. In any event all I have to do is behave until we reach the Oasis where Horus and the others will catch up with us. It's easier to behave and act like a tourist on vacation than be a pain in the ass to the guards."

While Mokuba liked Alex well enough, he wasn't above pointing out some very obvious flaws in the boy's plan. There was a reason why he didn't try to escape. Then again, Alex was only eight years old, while Mokuba was roughly twelve and was used to helping his brother run a multi-million dollar company. Mokuba was a realist.

* * *

Evy found Alex's message in the sand, and she noted some odd drawings next to it.

"Horus!"

"I'm here... Ah, looks like Mokuba's already come up with a plan."

"What do you mean?" asked Ardeth.

"This is his handwriting. It says that he'll keep Alex out of trouble until we meet up at the oasis, since it's unlikely we'll catch up before then. Oh, and apparently he's managed to get Imhotep on his side," said Horus.

"What? How do you know that?"

"Because I can read Kanji. And I know this had to be done by Mokuba because he's the only one in their group that can write in Kanji," said Horus.

"Horus! You won't believe what I found in that train!" yelled Akefia.

"What?"

Akefia held up a familiar golden book.

Horus turned to Evy and Ardeth.

"Any objections to us throwing that into our treasure vault and leaving it there?"

"Do you plan to use it against humanity?" asked Ardeth.

"Why bother? Ruling the earth is too much of a chore and pissing off the Pharaoh takes much less effort than invoking the gods," said Horus.

"Then I have no objection at all. It's better to let you and your brother keep the books than allow others to get their hands on it. You two are possibly the only people I would trust with them, since you don't actually have a need to use them."

Horus grinned and had Maha Vialo place the golden book of Amun Ra somewhere near the North wall. It was promptly buried under a stack of gold which fell on top of it, and would not be found for nearly a year later when Horus went to read it out of boredom.

It would not be used again for much longer than that.


	15. Chapter 15

Once again, Mokuba was sitting near Imhotep while practically everyone else avoided the mummy. Even the reincarnated form of his dead lover didn't stay around him as much as the Japanese boy. If they found it odd that the kid spoke to Imhotep in Ancient Egyptian at night, they didn't comment.

Tonight Mokuba was talking to the undead man about reincarnation. Even though Imhotep had brought the full memories of Ankh-Su-Namen's mind back, Mokuba was highly doubtful that the woman was really the same woman Imhotep had fallen in love with. Imhotep wasn't happy about the doubt, but the boy brought up some valid arguments in his defense.

"_I'm not saying that the woman you brought back doesn't love you, I'm saying that her more modern self isn't nearly as loyal."_

"_And what, exactly, makes you say such things?"_

"_Let's look at the facts. Ankh-Su-Namen was willing to die rather than live as a puppet. She was willing to kill a Pharaoh, who was supposedly the son of a god, just to be with you. But! The same cannot be said of her reincarnated self."_

"_I brought her back in Karnak."_

"_You brought her _memories_ back. You did not replace the soul of her new body with that of your actual lover. Just because she is willing to be near you and can speak Egyptian does not mean that she is the same woman you fell in love with."_

"_On what basis do you say this?"_

"_My brother. He is the reincarnated body of the High Priest Seth, who according to the Tomb Keepers was the Nameless Pharaoh's cousin. However, just because he was one of the Nameless Pharaoh's priests does not mean he has to worship the ground the Pharaoh walks on today. In fact, my brother can barely tolerate to be in the same room as the man."_

"_Then why does she follow me?"_

"_Power. There are people in this world who will do anything for power, money, fame. The length some will go to just to obtain these things are both shocking and horrifying. There is a very good chance that she is just using you to obtain power for herself, and that if things start to go wrong or it looks like you will fail, she will abandon you."_

"_Ankh-Su-Namen would never abandon me," _said Imhotep with conviction.

"_Yes, but she isn't the same person you knew. She could very easily be playing on your emotions of her past life just to get what she wants. I'm not saying this just to turn you against her, I'm saying this so that you can look at all the angles. There is a chance she is the same as the one you fell in love with, but the opposite is also true."_

"_You may have a point,"_ Imhotep reluctantly admitted. While the boy was trying to turn him against his reincarnated lover, he also brought up a valid concern. The mere fact Mokuba was willing to bring up such a sensitive topic was astounding.

About the only reason Imhotep had yet to kill Mokuba Kaiba was due to the fact that while he was trying to turn him against ruling the world, he also brought up valid, well-reasoned arguments that people twice his age would be hard put to counter. The former priest rather enjoyed these conversations, as they tended to kill time.

* * *

Horus read the latest message from Mokuba. He had to bite back a laugh.

This kid was scarily good at converting enemies into allies. According to the latest note, he had already gotten Imhotep on his side enough that his survival was all but assured. And he was chipping away at the former priest's devotion to his reincarnated lover.

"What did he say?" asked Evy.

"Alex is fine. They won't kill him until they reach the Oasis at least. However it seems the kid has decided to annoy Lock-Nah to the point that he will kill him if given a chance. Mokuba, on the other hand, has managed to keep Imhotep from doing the same to him by talking to the undead priest. According to this he's trying to chip away Imhotep's undying devotion to a woman who could easily be using him. My guess is that the entire 'take over the world' ploy he's got going on at the moment is nothing more than an attempt to impress his lover."

"Which means when things go south and the girl dumps him, he'll give in without a fight to us," said Akefia knowingly.

"How much you want to bet he'll end up as part of Mokuba's guard once we get back?"

"No bet," said Akefia.

"Now, what to do about our present issue? At the rate we're going it's going to take us at least two more days to reach the oasis," said Horus.

"Not much we can do about it. Bastet still has the plane," said Akefia.

"I know, but moving this slowly is damn annoying," said Horus.

Mokuba snapped several pictures of the waterfall they stopped at. At the rate he was going with the pictures, he would fill up the magically charged camera. At least none of the guards had the presence of mind to try to take it from him, since from what they could tell it didn't actually do anything.

At the very least, this was the most amusing vacation he had been on in some time. At least it was never boring.

Though his brother was still liable to strangle Horus for allowing him to be kidnapped, again.

Imhotep walked into the middle of the water pool, and lifted it up to near the top of the canyons they were in. Mokuba made sure to capture the scene, because if he hadn't been there to see it, he would have difficulty believing it actually happened.

When the wall of water rushed to meet the other party, he got ready to move again. It was actually quite impressive, and the amount of power it would take to duplicate the effect was staggering.

He could vaguely hear the sound of a nitrogen-canister going off, and could only assume the blimp he spotted had a pair on it. It would certainly explain why he didn't hear any crashing until about half an hour later.

"Mum? Dad?" said Alex.

"I wouldn't worry too much. Horus knows his way around barrier spells. Chances are good that he would have kept them from being crushed under that water," said Mokuba.

* * *

Horus coughed up water. That had been surprising, but he had managed to keep them from drowning on the way down.

"That was a complete pain in the ass! How the hell are they going to get out of here now?" demanded Akefia.

"Marik, can you and Ryou help Izzy rebuild this thing while we rescue the kids?"

"What's in it for us?"

"Half of any treasure we find," said Akefia promptly.

"Deal!" said Marik.

"Once that's done you can join the Medjai in case they wake up the Army of Anubis," said Horus.

"Anything would be better than sitting around doing nothing," said Marik.

"What would you recommend if they do wake up?" asked Ryou.

"The only way to kill an Anubis warrior is to take out the head," Ardeth told them.

"Decapitation, got it. Sounds better than trudging through this stupid forest," said Marik.

* * *

Mokuba was having fun taking pictures of the corpses.

"Look, Roman Legionaries. And here, turn of the century French...Napoleon's troupes," said Hafiz. (The curator)

"What in the name of Anubis did this?" said Lock-Nah.

Mokuba took a good look at one of the bodies.

"My guess? Pigmy. Mean little bastards."

"How would a pigmy do this?" asked Alex.

"Well, considering the theme that's going on and the fact that we have yet to see any living animals around here aside from birds...I would say we are most likely going to be dealing with mummy pigmy monsters. Considering their size, we should definitely avoid tall grass at the very least," said Mokuba.

* * *

"You hear that?" asked Rick.

"What?" asked Ardeth.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," said Rick.

Akefia paused in reloading his crossbow. Now that Rick mentioned it, it was oddly quiet.

"I can see them from here. Looks like they're guarding Alex more carefully than Mokuba. Though that isn't very surprising since he did mention Alex had a habit of annoying the guards and attempting to escape," said Horus.

"Is Alex alright?" asked Evy concerned.

"He's fine. Wearing less clothes than he had on when he was taken, but that's normal since we kept finding them."

"My word!" said Jonathan. He had pulled back some vines to reveal a rather impressive collection of shrunken heads.

"I say, chaps, look at this. Shrunken heads. I would love to know how they do that."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Horus chuckled.

"You really want to know or are you just asking?" said Horus.

"Just curious."

Horus was so amused that he told the man. Seeing Jonathan pale was rather funny.

"I'm done. Everyone else ready?" asked Akefia.

"Just one question. Is that the one with the automatic reloading bolts or the regular that you got just so you could slip it past magical defenses?" asked Horus.

"The one with the reloading bolts. Anything that makes a jungle this quiet is worth the extra trouble of carrying the damn thing around."

"What about you?" asked Rick.

Horus drew and tossed up his sword. It was the same one he swiped from Hamunaptra nine years ago. (If you want an idea of what it looks like, just think of the one Rick used in the first movie against the guards before Jonathan completed the spell.)

Rick blinked.

"You still have that sword?"

"Of course I do. You have any idea how hard it is to find a good quality sword like this? The balance is just right and it's made of metal that's forged with the ability to absorb spells. Besides, once I'm done using it, it doubles as an art piece so no one asks about it in the house."

Horus went with Rick and Ardeth while Akefia stayed with Jonathan and Evy. If the creatures in the jungle got too close he double as a guard.

* * *

"Wow...so that's the pyramid you were looking for?" said Mokuba.

"Cripes, I'm in trouble now," said Alex.

"It's your own fault for deliberately ticking off those guards," said Mokuba unsympathetically.

Suddenly Mokuba heard the wind whistle past him.

"Uh-oh..."

"What is it?"

"I think the mummified Pigmy are about to wake up..." said Mokuba.

"How do you know?" asked Alex.

Mokuba gave him an odd look.

"Sudden wind whistling, a jungle with no obvious signs of animal life, and that was just thunder over head. Do I need to continue pointing out the cliché signs of something very bad about to happen, or is that enough?" he said sarcastically.

"Nope."

"In any case, I better get my spells ready. Good thing Horus showed me the one he uses to bring the shadow bat out..."

"The _what_?"

Mokuba cast his hand out, as if drawing something from his wrist. A long, blackish bat appeared in his hand. It was just the right weight for someone his size, and it was balanced perfectly in his hand. He quickly cast a generic shield spell over him and Alex, so the pigmies would think twice before they shot them with darts.

When the screams started, Mokuba remained alert and ready to send the things flying.

And attack they did. Alex soon learned why Mokuba summoned that bat. He was frighteningly good at using it. What he didn't know was that Mokuba had opted to use this as an excuse to work out some anger management issues he had about his brother.

Misplaced aggression at it's finest. The pigmy mummies didn't stand a chance.

* * *

Horus took one look at the flying pigmies, and when he saw the bat he couldn't help his reaction. He snorted with amusement.

"What is it?" asked Ardeth, wanting to know what was so amusing.

"Mokuba's working out some anger issues. I almost feel sorry for the pigmies."

"What?" said the other two. Horus pointed at a black bat, illuminated by magic that was sending the mummified menaces flying left and right.

"I taught him how to summon a shadow bat, which is what I use to keep Marik's darker half in line. Mokuba is making short work of those pigmies."

"...He's rather good at that."

"I'm just going to claim he's working out some anger issues. His brother hasn't taken him to an amusement park since he became CEO, even though last I heard he was planning to build one."

"Exactly who is this kid?" asked Rick, fending off the pigmies.

"Vice President and one of the major shareholders in a multi-million dollar gaming company that produces realistic illusions through technology and pumps out more ideas for games than you would believe. Oh, and my first student."

Both of the older males blinked.

"This is his vacation. You wouldn't believe how overprotective his older brother is."

"He calls running around Egypt and dealing with an undead mummy a vacation?" said Rick.

"Well yeah, he rarely has a chance to get out like any normal kid his age. Besides, it was either tag along while we kill some wizards trying to control Imhotep or deal with another end of the world scenario with that asshole Pharaoh," said Horus amused.

Horus snagged Mokuba on the way to the pyramid.

* * *

"So Mokuba, you really to be properly inducted into the group?"

"If you mean am I ready to rob a most likely priceless tomb for the hell of it, then yes. Can we get on with it already? I want some tacky artifacts to decorate my room and desk with," said Mokuba sarcastically.

Horus beamed at him. The boy was becoming more and more like one of them already. Now they just had to drag his brother into the mix and really annoy the Pharaoh.

Once they landed in the tacky looking pyramid, Horus immediately cast a spell that lead them to the treasure room. He handed Mokuba a bag with an infinite expansion.

"Grab anything you want, and if you don't know if it's cursed or not feel free to ask. Hold on while I get Akefia, Marik and Ryou."

A quick message to the other three, and soon the treasure room was looking much more sparse than it was before. By common consent, most of the treasure marked with the sign of the scorpion was left alone. Not because it was cursed, but because it looked so tacky they didn't want it.

When the room started shaking, Mokuba looked up.

"What was that?"

"I guess the Scorpion King is waking up. Want to go see while Marik and Ryou practice their aim on some Anubis Warriors?"

"Only if we can nab Imhotep when the King's dead. I kinda like him, even if he is a bit outdated," said Mokuba.

"We were going to nab him anyway. What better way to keep the wizards from trying to control him than by bringing him back with us?"

"Where are they anyway?" asked Akefia.

"Last I checked the pigmies got them. They were disguising themselves as part of the group," said Horus.

"_**Actually, one did manage to survive, but without help he'll die anyway when the oasis is reclaimed by Anubis,"**_ said Bastet.

"By the way, how did the old Jackal feel when he learned you sent your Chosen here to cause trouble?"

"_**He could care less either way, so long as you don't interfere with the past. He even said you could have the Priest, since he didn't want to hear the man whining about the fact he stole all the immortal powers from him."**_

Horus' eyes widened as he bit back a chuckle.

"Anubis took his powers? Oh that is rich! Think we could convince him to do the same to that damn Pharaoh?"

"_**Oh how I wish we could. Unfortunately Ra would bitch and moan about it until Anubis gave them back. Besides, that spoiled brat already defeated his last Avatar, so the Jackal god no longer has any chance to do so."**_

"I seriously can't wait until he grows a damn backbone so we can be done with the Items and that damn Pharaoh," said Horus.

"What do you mean?" asked Mokuba.

"The Millennium Items, like that tacky Puzzle of his. In order to get rid of their influence and let the souls stuck inside go on to the afterlife, Yugi has to defeat his other half. Once he does that, the damn Pharaoh will have to leave, since he wasn't given a new body like Akefia was. In fact, my brother has already been granted his own body once he gave up his quest to collect the Items once he learned I was alive in this time."

"So in other words, once Yugi is no longer a wimp..." said Mokuba.

"Goodbye Pharaoh and a good portion of the end of world schemes. I daresay your brother will be pleased to hear that as well."


	16. Chapter 16

Marik and Ryou were getting into the swing of killing the Anubis Warriors while Akefia and Horus kept an eye on Mokuba. Mokuba was there for one reason...he wanted to help Imhotep once he realized that the boy had been right all along about his reincarnated lover.

Imhotep had been having doubts ever since he saw the woman's look when he lost his powers. Those doubts had only grown stronger when she refused to stand by him to confront the Scorpion King.

Suddenly Rick caught the Scepter of Osiris, and stabbed Mathias in the stomach with it while being directly above a pit that lead to the underworld. If he fell in there, he would be taken straight to the underworld without question. Imhotep was too close to the pit, so when the floor started to rumble underneath he nearly fell in.

Mokuba tensed.

Akefia and Horus waited for the women to choose. Would they possibly sacrifice themselves for their lovers, or would they flee?

Evy didn't think twice. She went to her husband's side. Ankh-Su-Namen, however, was more interested in survival than helping Imhotep. Imhotep was devastated.

Akefia and Horus appeared by the pit and grabbed the priest. Once he was out, Horus turned to Evy and Rick.

"Get out of the pyramid as quickly as you can. Anubis plans to reclaim the oasis once the remainder of his power vanishes. We'll take care of Imhotep from now on. Mokuba, you got the other book?"

"I have the _Book of the Dead_. I grabbed it once Alex resurrected his mom."

"Right then. Let's go pick up the others and be off. Hopefully we won't have to make another trip back to the past again," said Horus.

"You're taking him with you?"

"I daresay we can handle a former priest. By Bast, we outdate him Rick! Now get going!" said Horus amused.

* * *

"You two about ready to leave?" asked Akefia.

Ardeth shot Imhotep a look.

"Relax Ardeth. Imhotep was robbed of his powers by Anubis. According to Bastet, he will have to live out the remainder of his life as a mortal wizard, just like I have to. He won't be around to bring back anymore, since we're taking him with us," said Horus.

"I suppose this is goodbye," said Ardeth.

"Not particularly. When you get a user ID, remember to keep an eye out for the name _ChosenOfBast_. We'll talk again once you realize what I'm talking about," said Horus.

Ardeth nodded, though he hadn't a clue what Horus meant.

* * *

Imhotep looked so out of his league when he entered the plane. It wasn't surprising, since most of the technology was far beyond what they had at the time he was awakened.

Mokuba, however, eased the way by introducing him to Duel Monsters, which was the modern equivalent of the Shadow Games. Even if he had some trouble translating the rules, Akefia was so amused by his attempts that he helped the kid.

"So Mokie...did you get a picture of the Scorpion King?"

"Yup. Once I did, I handed it to Ryou and he got some Anubis Warriors on there too."

"That reminds me...we swiped some weapons from those things that looked interesting," said Ryou.

"And they didn't disappear?" asked Akefia.

Marik held a few up.

"Huh. Seems Anubis didn't care if you kept them. They should have vanished once their previous owners died."

Bastet appeared, and the look on Imhotep's face was highly amusing. He looked like he was about to bow before her if it didn't look like he would be foolish in doing so.

"_**Anubis only allowed it as a lesson to the fools who lost them in the first place. If they can't keep onto their weapons in battle, then they don't deserve to have them. He wants me to inform you that you can keep them as trophies for all he cares."**_

"Did he say anything about the treasure?" asked Horus, not taking his eyes off in front of him.

"_**He could care less. He knew the price of allowing you anywhere near the pyramid and said that you were free to have it. Though he was annoyed by the fact that fool stole the diamond off it."**_

Horus nearly jerked the plane.

"Jonathan actually snagged that huge diamond?" he said in surprise.

"_**He grabbed it at the last second while the dirigible was just barely above the sand."**_

"That guy is almost at our level," Horus whistled.

"Wait, why didn't you take that diamond?" asked Mokuba.

"Too heavy and it would be impossible to sell without alerting the cops. Even the goblins wouldn't touch that thing. The only thing that rock could be used for is a glorified paperweight," said Horus flatly.

"Sadly he's right. Not to mention the fact that it was unbelievably tacky even for us."

"So then why did Jonathan take it?" asked Ryou.

"Because it would be easier to sell the thing during that time than it would in ours," said Horus.

* * *

Kaiba took one look at the bald Egyptian and said "Friend of yours?"

"More a friend of Mokuba than ours at the moment," said Seth.

"Right. Did anything bad happen to my brother on your trip?"

"Would you relax Seto? He's nowhere near as annoying as Yugi's darker half or worse Jounouchi," said Mokuba.

"Word of warning, he only speaks Ancient Egyptian, so you might want to have Set speak to him," said Seth.

Seto blinked, and Mokuba could tell there was a different person in control.

Set looked Imhotep in the eye and asked him something in Egyptian. Imhotep was surprised, but answered anyway.

"Fine. He can stay, but he isn't living in our house," said Seto flatly.

"Lucky for us, I happen to have a house in Domino thanks to the goblins that we were planning on moving into anyway. Imhotep can have one of the bedrooms."

"Fine by me. You can get the priest acclimated. I want him speaking plain English or passable Japanese before I hire him," said Seto.

"Deal."

"So how bad was the fallout?" asked Bakura.

Seto grimaced.

"The idiot Pharaoh got his better half captured just to bail his ass out," said Seto.

The thieves looked at each other before snickering.

"You know what this means don't you?" asked Seth.

"We'll be rid of him sooner than we hoped for at the rate he's going!" crowed Bakura.

* * *

As it turned out, Imhotep was a quick study when it came to languages. It didn't hurt that Mokuba was willing to help him, since the former priest identified with the boy faster than any of the others. Since everyone in Seth's new seven bedroom house could speak Ancient Egyptian, it took little time for Imhotep to get used to the new times...though it took a bit longer for him to finally speak Japanese and English.

One of the first things Seth did once he got back was stop by England and raid the Department of Mysteries. He stole a few Time Turners and destroyed the rest, along with the notes on how to make more. He also ruined the research into the modified ones, which meant it would take years before they could recreate it since their only working models had been stolen by Death Eaters in order to capture Imhotep.

Imhotep didn't mind working as the bodyguard for Mokuba, since it meant he would spend more time with one of the few people he could actually get along with.

Of course there was a bit of an issue when he finally had a run in with the Pharaoh.

* * *

Anzu was eager to see if they could convert Mokuba's newest bodyguard Siris to their team. Seth had been quite annoying in claiming all the interesting players for himself.

At this point there were two groups associated with the past that Yugi dealt with.

Those that stood by the Pharaoh, and those who acted as neutral parties. Seto Kaiba, during their last encounter during the whole Ancient Civilization mess, had told the Pharaoh rather bluntly that he was on Bakura's side, not his.

Anzu had not been pleased. Seth had gathered some of the most powerful allies the Pharaoh (whom she still had a crush on) could have on his side, yet they only helped when their was either something in it for them or they had no other choice.

Siris was a rather handsome, if clearly foreign man who spoke barely passable Japanese. It was clear he shaved his head, because you could see where the hair would grow normally. He also had a habit of wearing what was clearly authentic Egyptian symbols and jewelry...and after spending so much time with Isis and the Pharaoh it was hard not to miss it.

What bothered Anzu the most was that Isis had absolutely no idea who Siris actually was, just that he popped out of nowhere after the mess with the dragons was over and Mokuba came back. He was strangely loyal to the younger Kaiba, though he was genuinely respectful to the older one, which was both odd and rare in itself.

The real surprise was that Seto Kaiba showed him the same respect back, even when it was Set that was doing the talking. And that alone was beyond odd, because Set and Seto had the same idea of whom to give respect. Seto barely tolerated Yami and Set barely tolerated having to be around Yami's friends.

Yet they willingly dealt with Siris without issue.

She spotted Siris at a local cafe enjoying a cup of ice tea.

The second he saw her, his face turned into a frown. She could only hope that Bakura and Marik hadn't turned him against her before she could say a word.

* * *

Imhotep was enjoying the relative peace of his day off. Seth had been the one to come up with his new name so he could fit in better, since apparently if the local priestess heard his name she would have kittens about them bringing him with them.

Imhotep was just surprised that the God of the Dead didn't take offense to the fact that Seth, who he knew as Horus, had chosen to give him a name like Osiris or Siris to everyone else. In fact most of the other guards, once they got over the fact he had trouble speaking Japanese or English, got along rather well with him.

They seemed to put him on the same rank as Seth, which is to say foreign. They could care less if he spoke Ancient Egyptian or the fact that his lover had stabbed him in the back when he actually needed her.

He found drinking some of the modern fair and reminiscing about the good times with the other guards rather therapeutic, since they were actually quite sympathetic to his problem. The longer he stayed in the present, the more he was glad his plans had never actually succeeded...right up until the point the woman his comrades had warned him of came up to him in hopes of getting him to join their cause.

Five minutes of listening to her friendship speeches, and he was very, very glad he could barely understand a word in five since he didn't have a translation charm on at the time.

He knew enough to order tea and had been walked through how to use a credit card to pay for his drink, but that was about it. He was currently trying to read a rather simple book about Egyptian Mythology (which was given to him by Horus because it made anyone who knew Bastet and the other gods laugh) which was in English to improve his ability to read.

It was slow going, but at least he made an effort to learn.

Once the girl realized he wasn't paying her any attention, she huffed indignantly and left. Ryou had been hiding, since he had spotted her nearby, and he gave his sympathies to the former priest.

Imhotep waved him off. The girl had been annoying, but her voice had been on the level of a fly at best. Irritating, but easily ignored with practice.

* * *

When Seth heard about the run in with Anzu, he winced.

"What did he do?"

"Barely paid her any attention and kept trying to read that book you gave him," said Ryou.

"Wait, so he blatantly ignored her? That's going to piss her off," said Bakura.

"She seems to take it personally that you snatched anyone remotely powerful away from his little group," said Marik.

"...We could always let him stab her or something and claim that we were too busy teaching him the language to think about warning him of murder..." said Seth.

There was stone silence...then Marik broke it.

"Think we could actually get away with it? I mean her voice and rants are on par with that chick from that ninja series who was completely useless until the time skip," he said.

"If you mean Sakura Haruno from _Naruto_, I completely agree. I say we do a wait and see approach. If she continues to pester him, then we can lay the blame entirely on her. If not, then we'll have to deal with it. Either way we won't go out of our way to protect her from Imhotep," said Seth flatly.

"Then there's the fact that the Pharaoh has no idea who Siris actually is," said Bakura snorting.

They heard someone come down. It was Imhotep, and he looked vaguely annoyed.

"_That woman was most irritating."_

"_We know. She seems to live in a world of sunshine and flowers. Frankly none of us can tolerate her presence for very long before we get the desire to stab her,"_ said Seth flatly.

Imhotep had an odd look on his face.

"_Anything against attacking her or otherwise shutting her up?"_

"_If she continues to bother you, then it's her own damn fault. The only reason she's still alive is because we would rather not deal with the Pharaoh bitching about it. Well, that and Shaadi would get on my ass about interference,"_ said Seth.

Bakura realized something.

"_Come to think of it, his interference is solely based on Shadow Realm issues. Despite the fact that you are from the past, he wouldn't have any actual jurisdiction on you or your actions, and neither would that damn Pharaoh because you were after his time. You know what this means, don't you?"_

"_Not a clue,"_ said Imhotep, vaguely amused.

"_It means that you can kill that bitch and not suffer the consequences of the Pharaoh. You don't have Shadow Magic, so he can't exactly punish you to the extent he can us. Hell, his Puzzle's ability is strictly limited to punishing anyone who harms his lighter half... I don't think it covers his friends!"_ said Seth with barely restrained glee.

"_Does this mean we don't have to deal with the Friendship Whore anymore?"_ asked Marik.

"_As long as Imhotep is here, never again. Imhotep, if she keeps bothering you we'll cheer you on if you kill her in the most painful way imaginable. Just leave the short, spiked kid with the gold upside down Pyramid alone and the Pharaoh will have trouble touching you,"_ said Seth with glee.

"_I'll keep that in mind. But what makes you believe she'll come back again?"_

"_The fact she wants to add to their group. They barely have any players who could help their precious Pharaoh during the end of world schemes that continue to pop up. Having you on their side would be quite a boon,"_ said Marik flatly.

Imhotep looked visibly ill at the thought of dealing with that fool girl any more than he had to.

* * *

_**A/N: Imhotep is here to stay people. As for the fact that I'm making him relatively immune to the Pharaoh's Mind Crush and Shaadi's interference, here is my reasoning.**_

_**Imhotep came long after the Pharaoh's reign, and has never had any contact with Shadow Magic until Horus came along. Even the method they used to travel through time isn't Shadow Magic, but rather a gift from the gods to do work for them when needed.**_

_**And, according to Canon, Shaadi has never bothered anyone who wasn't after an Item or had Shadow Magic, and as long as Imhotep, now Siris, doesn't try to learn it he is immune to punishment from that end. Which means he can act as a wild card for Horus/Seth to use in events that would cause his little truce with the Keeper of the Scales to be broken.**_

_**Also, I really, really don't like Anzu. So don't be surprised if I traumatize to the point that she is no longer in the story anymore.**_

_**I hope this clears up any questions as to why Imhotep will be appearing more often in the story, since I don't intend to make them go to China to deal with the Dragon Emperor from the third movie.**_


	17. Chapter 17

It had been three months since Imhotep, now Siris, came to live with them. He finally got the hang of Japanese and English, and he was a hit with the magical half of Mokuba's select body guards. If Mokuba approved of them, then they were hired. If not, then they were out on the curb.

It didn't hurt that Mokuba was an Empath.

Frankly Seth was becoming beyond bored. Since he wasn't needed to keep the timeline straight, Imhotep was dealt with once and for all, and he had no desire to visit England after destroying the time turners like he was asked, he had nothing to do. Even watching Yugi get stronger in Shadow magic was boring.

(Well that and since they finally had enough teachers he was no longer needed to help Mokuba and the others.)

In short, nothing was happening.

At least, that was the case until Marik was nabbed by some idiots in skull masks and goth looking robes.

Yugi immediately went to find Seth, without his Puzzle on because the Pharaoh was sniping at the Egyptian when he was kidnapped.

"You said someone wearing tacky skull masks and goth robes kidnapped Marik while you were talking to him? Are you sure?" asked Seth seriously.

"Yes, and they were speaking English. Something about luring the Boy-who-lived into a trap by dragging his cousin back to England..."

Seth stared at Yugi for a good two minutes before he cracked a grin. He was resisting the urge to die laughing just barely.

"Oh this is fucking hilarious! Those morons actually took Marik as a hostage?" he roared with laughter.

"Aren't you worried?"

"Yugi, _Mokuba_ could beat these guys! Take away their sticks and they're defenseless! Why the hell should I be worried about Marik when Malik will just get pissed off and kill them all?"

Yugi blinked. He had forgotten about Malik since he assumed the darker half was sealed off. Apparently not.

"...Ano, if it's not too much trouble could I hang out with you guys occasionally? Anzu can get a bit screechy..."

"Ditch the Pharaoh and we'll let you hand out with us occasionally," said Seth promptly.

"By the way, what is his name? It's a total pain to keep calling him Pharaoh all the time, and I want something to yell at him."

"Losing your idol worship after that incident with the dragons?"

Yugi nodded emphatically. He had not enjoyed that at all. First time was because of Pegasus, second time was because of the fact that the Pharaoh's ego was out of control.

(_A/N: If you don't believe me rewatch the episodes where Atem challenges that one guy and lost during the whole Atlantis arc. He told Atem _BEFORE_ the stupid duel that he had already released the hostage and Atem STILL uses the blasted Seal of Orihalcos even though he knew what would happen if he lost. He needs an Ego Check, immediately!)_

* * *

The phone shrieked at them before Bakura picked it up.

"Hello, you have reached the residence of 'Fuck off and Die', shall I take a message?" he asked sarcastically. He had a hang over, by Bast, and he was going to make someone else's life hell if it killed him. Seth snorted in amusement.

Bakura paused, then put it on speakerphone to Seth's confusion.

"_For the love of the Gods, someone get me out of this fucking country already! I have magical cops looking for my ass, some pedophile grandpa trying to recruit me with a weird look in his eyes, and some snake-obsessed fucker pissed at me for killing most of his men!"_ screamed Marik infuriated.

Seth listened to the tirade before laughing so hard beer shot out of his nose and he fell off the couch and hit the end table. It was not a pretty sight.

Bakura looked at the phone in annoyance.

"Use shadow travel to get home. It's not like you don't know how."

"_The fucking cops put a magic seal on me you asshole! Said I broke some statute of Secrecy or some bullshit! Not to mention Shaadi showed up pissed off about something and said I wasn't allowed to use the Shadow Realm for a while!"_ retorted a pissed off Marik. He was not in the best of moods.

"Yeah, well why the fuck haven't you tried going to the Muggle police and get deported to Egypt you halfwit?!" snapped Seth.

"_... Fuck me, why the hell didn't I think of that?"_

"You're welcome and I'll come bail you out of Egyptian jail once this hang over passes," said Seth.

"_FUCK! WHY WON'T THESE DAMN SNAKE FETISH BASTARDS LEAVE ME ALONE!?"_

"Marik, hang up and let Malik have some fun! Magic seals don't cover split personalities dumbass!" shouted Seth.

Soon the phone was hanging off the hook and the sound of screams and maniacal, unhinged laughter was heard. Much to their surprise it never cut off and frankly they were too drunk to care about hanging it up.

Seth could only guess that Marik had used his magically powered cell phone which had an over abundance of minutes since he rarely used it and just kept adding to it in order to keep the number active.

Eventually the sounds changed and they could all hear him being dragged into a court of sorts, and then sentenced to what amounted as hell on earth for magical or muggle alike.

Azkaban.

Seth blinked, all pleasant drunkenness gone.

How dare they throw Marik into there when he was dragged into England against his will! Even Malik wouldn't last very long in that hell! Once Marik finally realized where he was and which cell...as well as the fact that the call was still active, he told them the exact location.

No way in Anubis' cold embrace was he staying there longer than a few hours!

* * *

Seth borrowed one of Kaiba's planes, this one designed with him in mind. Because of Seth, Kaiba's stock had taken a large jump off a cliff and came up soaring like a dragon.

Seto Kaiba had been very pleased with the new, untouched market which his rivals had no knowledge of.

Because Seth was such a 'valued employee' and he had a legal pilot's license to fly solo on most airplanes, Kaiba had another "Dragon Jet" designed solely for Seth's personal use. Below the pilot and co-pilot's seat was a large cargo and loading bay big enough for twenty people to sit in comfortably and still move around...or a few cars.

It had raised a few eyebrows in the company, but considering Seth was one of Kaiba's favored employee's and he protected Mokuba quite a bit, no one commented.

Seth still had to pay for fuel though. Kaiba wasn't _that_ generous.

The jet/cargo plane was in the shape of a Red Eyes Darkness Dragon. Which basically meant he had a plane that looked like a Hell-spawned Red Eyes Black Dragon on Infernal Steroids and pumped full of magic. Not something you want to cross in the middle of the night or in a foul mood.

Seto thought it highly appropriate, since Seth was also something no one wanted to cross in the middle of the night or when pissed off. Mokuba had found it amusing.

Seth was just glad that even though he was stuck with a version of the Mutt's Ka beast, it was one he could agree to.

(Mutt is the nickname Seth and Seto have for Joey. And yes, he is very aware of that fact.)

It also had a video camera mounted in both eyes, so Seth could record the reaction to the dragon plane.

"_REDD One, this is Control, you are clear for take-off,"_ said the control tower.

Seth had finished checking his new plane. This was the first official take off, and he had an excellent co-pilot in Rashid. He had bailed his fellow Egyptian out from going on a shopping excursion with Anzo and Isis.

The man was more than happy to help be a co-pilot to avoid that madness.

What really amused him though was who was in the passenger seats below.

Yugi had ditched Jounouchi and Honda (and left his Puzzle) to come help rescue Marik. He still felt bad that the Egyptian had been taken while he was talking to him.

Seth clicked the microphone and decided to play captain to the group downstairs. This aught to be fun.

"Welcome gents, to Air REDD. This is your captain speaking, and in just a moment we will be taking flight to rescue a pair of idiots who we happen to care about. Please keep your belts fastened until we reach the maximum altitude, and for the love of the gods don't try to join the mile high club unless you want to be the ones to clean up the resulting mess," said Seth in Egyptian. He used the monitors to see their reaction.

Bakura was flipping him off, Ryou looked bored (he spends his days around Bakura and Seth. He's immune to this kind of banter now) and Yugi was as red as a tomato. Imhotep had stayed behind, wanting to protect Mokuba in case this came back to bite them in the ass. Seth had agreed to it immediately.

The kid was a kidnapping magnet, and he would swear to the gods on that...

* * *

_Inside the passenger hold..._

Bakura gave Yugi an odd look.

"Where's the Pharaoh? I thought he wouldn't let you come rescue Marik?"

Yugi gave him an odd look as well.

"The _Pharaoh_ can go to hell. After that little stunt he pulled during the entire mess with the Orihalcos seal, I can't wait to get rid of the bastard. The jerk is more into himself than Kaiba, and that's saying something," said Yugi flatly.

Being stuck inside a bubble for an entire week had given him time to think about his situation. It had become very clear that most of his friends only became his friends because of the Puzzle, and they would leave once the Pharaoh was sent away. Plus there was the fact that the Pharaoh had started to develop an odd fascination with Seth for some reason, and this was the first moment of peace he had gotten in over a month since their return.

Bakura stared at Yugi in amusement/shock/respect.

"So are you saying what I think you're saying?" he said in awe.

Yugi looked him dead in the eye and said "The Pharaoh can fuck off and die."

Ryou looked at Yugi with new light, as if he had never seen the kid before. Bakura was crowing that finally, _finally_ the chibi Pharaoh had some sense knocked into him! Above Seth was grinning because he had expected this to happen for over a month now when the Pharaoh started giving him lusty looks like he used to.

The idea of being with that arrogant blowhard was enough to make his skin crawl.

Yugi was still an innocent in the minds of Bakura and Seth, but that could easily be remedied later. For now they had someone to help them ditch the Pharaoh.

* * *

Marik was bored out of his damn mind. The Dementors knew better than to piss of a Shadow Caster (as they knew of those who used the Shadow Realm) so they avoided him. The prison was set to absorb magic, but it wasn't doing a good job with his.

At least he had the top floor, which made rescue a hell of a lot easier. Plus Seth had put Tetris on his phone, so he had something to do.

He cursed as if he had stubbed his toe (Isis had not been pleased when a few days of being with Bakura and Seth they had upgraded his swears to include some rather foul ones from Egypt) when he died again.

It was around this time he heard the sound of what was definitely engines, and high powered ones at that. He managed to get a good look and nearly backpedaled at the sight of glowing red eyes behind a malevolent gaze...right until he saw Seth and Rashid laughing at him in the cockpit.

"It's about fucking time! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" demanded Marik.

Seth grinned and extended the left front 'claw' (which was part of the landing gear, but Kaiba had paid extra so it could be used for other things at Seth's suggestion...right after he had the same upgrades added to his own Blue Eyes White Jet) which ripped through the stone like butter.

Wards or not, that claw was stronger than stone which was falling apart anyway.

Marik grinned, and walked onto the claw which retracted back up to the jet. Bakura was waiting with a large plank which he expertly walked along into the passenger bay.

You didn't live with a pair of thieves and not learn how to keep your balance and walk like a cat after all.

Yugi was shivering, but not out of cold. He was just too innocent, and the Dementors were not pleasant things to be around.

"I feel sorry for those people in there."

Seth overheard his comment, and an idea came to him. He grinned evilly.

"Oy, Marik... How does pissing off the English sound?"

Marik switched to Malik.

"Undo this fucking seal and we'll tear down that fucking Ministry of theirs!" he snarled.

To say Malik had been less than pleased about the seal was an understatement. He was in a murderous with a hefty dose of '_let's slaughter the fuckers in as many horrifying ways as possible_' mood.

Malik joined Seth in the cockpit, where he ripped the seal to shreds. The Egyptian sighed with relief when his magic came back.

"First we release the prisoners...and we will be checking to see if they're worth the trouble Yugi...then we'll deal with this Riddle character once and for all."

"Don't forget Dumbledore. He's the fucker who suggested the seal," snarled Malik.

"The old goat too. He's gotten on my nerves enough to warrant death by my pets."

As per her usual method, Bast made herself known.

"_**You do realize that if you drop both in the side pocket where your pets are, you'll be fulfilling the prophecy Dumbledore tried to set you up for right?"**_

"And I should care why?"

"_**Because the English will attempt to capture and change you."**_

"Pah... Only way they'll manage that is if they can get the Egyptian Minister to agree to it, and he never will. He knows that I'm the only connection they have to their past, and the fact I don't mind sharing the old texts means they'll never get rid of me."

"_**Good point. Plus they know that you are my avatar, and no real wizard wants to piss me off."**_

"But first, let's piss of the English!" said Seth cheerfully.

Bast yowled in agreement. This would be fun.

* * *

**MASS BREAKOUT IN AZKABAN! SUSPECTED EGYPTIAN DEATH EATER ESCAPES ON DARK DRAGON!**

Marik was very displeased.

"Oh come on! I wasn't even wearing sleeves, and they claim I had the Dark Mark! What kind of morons are they?" he demanded.

"They marry their own cousins. What does that tell you?"

"Their hubris is almost as bad as the Pharaoh's?" asked Yugi. He had once again ditched the Pharaoh and the others to hang out with Ryou and Marik.

Bakura barked out his laughter at the joke, but agreed with the assessment.

"So Yugi, you got a passport?" asked Seth with a smirk.

"I got one before we went to America because of that entire mess with Atlantis. Why?"

"We're heading to Egypt to straighten a few things out. Plus there's a woman I plan to meet there."

"Who?" asked Ryou.

Seth told them. Ryou couldn't help his reaction.

He started laughing almost like Bakura would.

"She'll skin them alive!"

"That's the idea," said Seth dryly.

"Are we going to be gone a while?"

"Yup."

"Let me call Grandpa. I'm sure he'll approve once he hears why."

Yugi had, at Seth's suggestion, told his grandfather everything he knew about the Puzzle and the Pharaoh. Much to his relief, Solomon wasn't surprised in the least. As a result, he knew the boy needed a break from the madness that followed Yami (what Yugi called the Pharaoh) around.

Plus Yugi had a genuine interest in Egypt long before the Pharaoh came around, and this would help Yugi out in his hopes to be an Egyptian historian.

They were off the Egypt.


	18. Chapter 18

Rita Skeeter was not a fan of the heat. That being said, an exclusive interview with _the_ Harry Potter, who had been presumed dead until the goblins confirmed he was in fact alive and well, was something she wouldn't dare pass up.

A young man (and he qualified as a man of late twenties and not a teen like Harry was supposed to be) approached her. Beside him was the supposed Egyptian Death Eater (not that Rita bought that tripe... the man didn't have a single Dark Mark on him and he had the feel that he wouldn't care for authority anyway) and two young men with hair so white they made the Malfoy family look pale.

"Ms. Skeeter, I presume?" said the young man.

"And you are?"

"I believe you English refer to me as Harry Potter."

She straightened. He had black hair and emerald green eyes. Aside from being older than he was supposed to, he fit the description.

"Where's the scar?"

Harry lifted his bangs, revealing a thin lightning bolt scar that was faded. It was clear that whatever had caused it was gone.

Harry called over a waiter for some tea, and the man took one look at his face and bowed deeply.

Harry hated the fame he had in England, but he was proud of the fact he was a celebrity among the magicals in Egypt. Partially because it was his home, but mostly because he had _earned_ that fame.

Here he was known as the only expert in the Ancient Spells, and he came to Egypt's magical schools occasionally as a guest lecturer and shared his magical knowledge.

Well that and as the owner as the largest number of Jeweled Scarabs and ancient Egyptian artifacts in the world.

"So tell me Mr. Potter, how is it you look in your twenties and not 16 like your birth certificate claims?" asked Rita.

Harry paused, and handed her a new quill.

"While I can only assume that you are a professional, I took the liberty of bringing a quill that is enchanted to only write what we say word for word. Excuse me for being cautious, however I am fully aware that there are very few libel laws in the English Magical Communities," said Harry smoothly.

Behind him the younger white-haired boy choked on his tea, obviously failing to hide his laughter.

Rita accepted the quill with grace, her own was getting a little frayed anyway. Besides, something told her this interview would be scandalous enough for her tastes without her interference.

"As I was saying... Why is it you look to be in your twenties and not 16 like your birth certificate claims, Mr. Potter?"

"Because I am in my twenties. I'm nearing twenty-five to be exact."

"How did you manage to age nine years?" asked Rita.

"Naturally of course. No magic was involved... Well, that is not entirely true, there was a little but it wasn't on my part. When I was a young child, roughly seven or eight, I was taken from the residence someone had so rudely forced upon me and dropped in the middle of the Egyptian desert exactly 5,000 years ago."

"Who dropped you in the past?"

"The goddess Bast. I learned quite a bit later, much later in fact, that she had done it mostly to anger Ra, since it was partly his fault I was forced to live with my so called maternal aunt Petunia Dursley."

"So you have problems with Muggles."

"If you mean non-magicals, then the answer is no. However I do have issues with a woman who was so bitter about not being allowed inside your precious school for magically inclined children that she took it out on her own flesh and blood. Her own husband considers magically inclined people to be freaks of nature, and they took many opportunities to, for lack of a better term 'beat the _freakishness_' out of me. I can only assume she mentioned the fact her sister was magical to her husband who took it the wrong way. They spoiled their own son so much that the last time I remember seeing him he resembled a small pig who didn't know the meaning of restraint. You can see why I never attempted to find my way back to England."

Rita was horrified. How dare those muggles attempt to beat the magic out of a child! Even she wouldn't try something so cruel.

"Of course Ancient Egypt wasn't without it's own perils. My brother and I often had to steal food for our family. At least we did right up until the Pharaoh's soldiers killed everyone for a foul magic ritual. Bast saved my brother and I, but everything we knew was gone."

"What proof do you have that you lived in Ancient Egypt?" she asked. No way were people going to by this without hard concrete evidence.

Harry laughed, and waved his hand. A scarab appeared, one that was out of it's shell. Rita froze, not wanting that thing anywhere near her even though her animagi form was a beetle. That thing was right up there with a Behemoth and a pissed off Dragon when in great numbers.

The thing chittered and thanks to her animal form she understood it. It called him Master.

Harry absentmindedly petted it, and the beetle scurried up his arm and never made a move to dive into his flesh to eat him alive.

"This proof enough? The Ancient Egyptians had a spell that has since been lost to keep Scarabs in their shells, and there are tombs littered with them all around Egypt. Not only can I control them to an extent, but I raise them. I even have a small side dimension that is filled with the little things where they can live and not worry about humans stealing their eggs to line their treasure rooms with."

Rita was pale, but if nothing else this confirmed his story. Only the Ancient Egyptians could ever control Scarabs, and that spell was long since destroyed by invading armies. And yet here he had one on his shoulder like...like a bloody pet!

(Because of her animal form, she had a fascination for scarabs. Particularly the Jeweled kind, which were fortunately extremely rare. To have even one was a sign of wealth, so long as it was in the shell.)

"How did you come back? I thought you said you had no interest in returning to England."

"I was forced back against my will by a certain meddling old man. I believe you know of him as well Ms. Skeeter. The last article of yours I read about him, which was why I chose you for the interview, called him a senile old goat with no fashion sense."

Her mouth went dry.

"You're talking about Albus Dumbledore?"

"I'm talking about an old man who should have retired decades ago at the end of the last war with Grindlewald. He forced me to return through time, though fortunately I had recently acquired an artifact which blocked the first attempt. It gave me ample time to work out an arrangement with the goblin clans here and create a new identity so as to avoid the one who brought me back by force. Of course once the Egyptian Minister learned who I was and what I had in my possession he couldn't help me fast enough."

Rita could only imagine. A man with the spell to control Jeweled Scarabs out of the shell would be worth many times his weight in gold. Let alone the other old spells long since lost.

Not to mention the fact that the goblins would probably salivate with the ability to get their hands on ancient gold.

"What is your grudge against Dumbledore?"

"For starters, it is entirely his fault I was at my aunt's and forced to stay there. Bast informed me of a spell that would make it impossible for anyone barring a seasoned auror to remove me from the home, even if there was clear evidence of abuse. Not to mention the wards on mail and magic suppressors that she removed once I was in Egypt. Then there was the fact that right before I was going to save my brother from fighting the Pharaoh and his...cohorts, I was dragged in a very painful manner through time and dropped in a time I had long since lost interest in. When he finally managed to summon me, he tried to coerce me into fighting a war I have no part in since my parents were killed. But my biggest issue is that he sealed my cousin's magic when he had been kidnapped by actual Death Eaters and forced to come to England and then thrown into Azkaban after a farce of a trial."

"Your cousin? I was under the impression you had no relatives other than the muggles?" said Rita. Now _here_ was a real scoop!

"Marik here is my cousin. In actuality he's my descendant, but it's easier to claim he's my cousin. His sister is the current curator for the Magical Branch of the Egyptian Museum, though she is currently on loan to the Japanese Museum. Rashid back there is my cousin through adoption, and Bakura is my brother. Somehow he got himself reincarnated into an almost perfect double. How, I have no idea, but I don't particularly care."

The more Harry talked, the bigger the cut Rita saw coming her way. This was already a huge article, but the fact that Harry had no love for the Ministry, Dumbledore or Voldemort (let alone any interest in dealing with said Dark Lord since he had no reason to go after him) made it even bigger.

Well, that and the fact that he had attained lordship in Egypt without having to rely on his father's family. According to the account manager from Gringotts (who happened to be there on break) Harry's vault was already three times the size of the Potter family's entire fortune, and he hadn't had to rely on the gold his father left once!

Rita left Egypt with a huge scoop and the news that Potter was not only alive and trained, but he was easily the most eligible bachelor on any continent!

His fan club in England was sure to skyrocket when this article hit the press.

There was also going to be a small side article that explained that the supposed 'Egyptian Death Eater' was actually a victim forced to come to England and who tried to fight his way out but was wrongfully captured and tried for crimes he had very little part of.

* * *

Voldemort was displeased. No, make that pissed. His greatest rival, the one who was supposedly destined to stop him, had no interest and called the Dark Lord a "child playing with his parent's wand and setting the house on fire by accident".

The fact he called Dumbledore a "Senile old man with issues in holding power above everyone else and absolutely no taste in fashion sense" did little to improve his mood.

He had already killed three of his Death Eaters after reading the article and he was considering going after a fourth.

At least he had something to go on now. According to another article, the boy they had dragged to England and was falsely accused of being his supporter was Potter's cousin. One who was extremely powerful and had no respect for any authority but his own.

Then there was the photo of Lord Potter. Normally he wouldn't have given it a second glance, but there was the matter of the insect on his shoulder.

No sane person could possibly consider a Jeweled Scarab a pet. The fact he admitted to having quite a few more and was still alive meant there was something he wasn't telling.

And they still had no idea what happened to the Creature, who he sent nearly twenty of his minions after. The only one to return was Pettigrew, and he was given the Kiss soon after so he was less than useless now.

Which meant he had to send another team, this time to capture the 'brother'. Thankfully the magical photo showed an albino with a distinctive spiked hair-style.

He would kill Potter and end this farce. Then he could take over Britain.

* * *

Yugi was practically vibrating in his seat. Thanks to Seth, he had a scholarship to an Egyptian college when he graduated High School. Plus Seth had agreed to help him with his chosen career path, which was Egyptian History.

He had always been interested in Egyptian History, but the emergence of the Pharaoh had only increased it.

In fact Seth had offered to teach Yugi magic (both modern and Ancient) so long as he ditched the Pharaoh when he came to the lessons. Because he was the lighter (and in the brother's opinion more tolerable) half of the Pharaoh, Yugi could do magic. The problem was that the Gods had sealed it before he awakened to his other half in order to prevent problems from the modern magical community, who took possession poorly.

Ryou had lucked out in that front, because Bast had vouched for him so he had some education, even if it had been cut short by his father. Thanks to Seth and Bakura, he had not only caught up, but he planned to attend Magical College lessons next fall.

Plus Isis, when she learned of the reason they took Yugi with them, became a big help. In exchange for bringing the Tomb Keepers out of the darkness, Yugi got free room and board at a nearby apartment which the Keepers ran since there wasn't enough room in the tunnels.

Well, that and Marik was renegotiating a contract with the goblins over raiding the tombs. He was hoping to bridge the gap his father had caused between him and the Medjai.

* * *

Ragnarok, the head Goblin of Gringotts, was looking at the new contract written by Marik and dictated by Seth. When they learned that Marik was Seth's legal descendant (they claimed cousins because otherwise people would ask awkward questions) they decided that Seth could be the leader of the Tomb Keepers until Marik reached his majority.

As such, they were making a new contract which would benefit both parties greatly.

"So, in exchange for running the tomb we intend to break into through the Keepers, you will help us translate any artifacts we find and give us forty percent of any treasure we locate and remove the curses for us."

"And in the case of a dangerous artifact we will run it by the Medjai to see if it's safe to release to the goblins, no matter _how_ valuable it is," said Seth.

Ragnarok didn't like that stipulation, but he agreed it was a reasonable term. Mostly because Seth had brought Exhibits A, B and C for artifacts that should never be released into public hands.

(And by that I mean the Book of Amun Ra, the Book of the Dead, and Imhotep himself. He seemed...amused, that he was an example of things that should left alone.)

"As for the Medjai, we will assist them in getting a document that will force the more unscrupulous members of the Egyptian Ministry from bothering them. Though to be fair I don't believe it's the Egyptian Ministry you need to worry about. We have searched the records for anyone who has fit the description of the children, and not a single one has been found in Egypt or Africa. It's like they vanished into thin air."

"I thought Bast's spell kept them from being taken?" said Marik to Seth.

"Taken by anything related to Ra. However there are other ways to steal children. Ardeth has done what he can, but he said that children are still being stolen, just not in large numbers as before."

"Well didn't you say that the old goat had a phoenix too?" asked Marik. It was one of the reasons why Seth disliked the man as much as he did the Pharaoh. Anyone with a pet phoenix shouldn't be trusted.

Seth tried not to curse.

"Ragnarok, is it possible that the children are being used to supplement the stagnating pure blood society?"

"It is possible. No, actually it is quite likely they are. By all accounts, Medjai children are listed as pure bloods in Egypt, unless one of their parents married into the clans. Abducting a child to increase the number of pure bloods wouldn't be that far fetched."

"Who would be the most likely culprit for the kidnapping?"

"Dumbledore, the Ministry...and possibly the Dark Lord's lackeys. I would bet on the Ministry or Dumbledore, though," said Ragnarok.

"So in order to keep them safe, we either have to bust this fact wide open, or take out two of the three and make it clear we don't tolerate that sort of thing."

"Precisely. Voldemort was bad enough the first time around, and Dumbledore is pulling the Ministry's strings in the shadows when the Dark Lord isn't. Fudge is merely a puppet for both parties, and he knows it's only a matter of time before they take him out and put someone new in."

"Explains the rather annoying laws the English have. How would the goblins like to see Dumbledore and Voldemort taken out in one fell swoop?"

Ragnarok grinned. It wasn't a pleasant sight and neither was his chortle.

"We would thank you for getting rid of a nuisance that has tried to rob us for far too long."

"Then let us sign this new deal between the Keepers and the goblins and begin the assault!" smirked Seth.

"What do you intend to do to Dumbledore and Voldemort?"

"My pets have been getting hungry lately. It would be interesting to see if those inbred fools can make it to the exit before they die a horrible death," said Seth with a smile.

"Death by scarabs. I don't know whether to pity them or ask if I can watch the show," said Ragnarok.

"Why not both? Bring anyone you like and some snacks. Should be fun to watch the senile old goat be eaten alive!" grinned Seth.


	19. Chapter 19

It was pure chaos in England. People were vanishing left and right, almost all of them pure bloods in prominent positions. What bothered Dumbledore was the fact that every single person taken was a Death Eater or suspected supporter. Moody was driving everyone up the wall because many of them had been taken right under the Order's noses.

Fudge was having an apoplectic fit over the fact that Malfoy had been the first to be taken and the first to be found...as a corpse with only bones left. They only knew it was him because his magical signature was still in the remains.

Then there was a note left on the next corpse to be found. This one was of Crabbe Senior.

"**Find the Treasure, and Escape with your life. Follow Flight From Death and you risk the chance of crossing the God of Kings."**

There was a claw mark on the paper, and it sent the Aurors in a frenzy.

The two terms Flight From Death was quickly translated to mean Voldemort and it took those who excelled in Ancient Runes weeks to translate the last part.

It was the claw mark that tipped them off, as one finally learned that it came from a desert hawk. That lead them to find the clue that told them the one responsible for killing the pure bloods was someone who went by the name of Horus.

Though the rest made absolutely no sense until one man who had been taken came back badly shaken with a single gold coin.

"It was awful. There was darkness, and then I found myself in a desert. A voice came from all around me saying that in order to escape with my life I had to find the treasure room. There were these..._things_...chasing me every day, and I could barely avoid the beetles that I saw devouring people alive! You could hear the screams... dear god the screaming..." he shuddered.

Fudge was tempted to shake the man into making sense.

"Spit it out man, who took you? Where were you?"

"I never saw his face. But I heard his voice every day. He said this was my punishment for taking something I shouldn't have..."

"What did you take?" asked Amelia Bones.

The man shuddered again. He didn't want to remember how he had been captured or the hellish experience he suffered just to escape.

"Speak man! What did you take?" demanded Fudge.

Amelia had enough. She had someone bring a penseive and told him he had to visualize the moments before he was taken. He did so reluctantly, but what she saw had her leave the bowl in disgust.

"You were taking children. That's why you were kidnapped. You stole children from their homes in order to force them to breed with the older pure blood families," she said in disgust. Suddenly she didn't feel sorry for him in the least.

Abruptly the man started screaming and it took a moment for Amelia to find why. A pool of shadows had formed above her, and from it dropped a note.

"**The desert shall reclaim in blood what has been stolen. If you don't want to find more bodies, then locate the stolen children and return them to their homes. The Death Eaters have made their own graves by following Flight From Death."**

Amelia looked at the man hard.

"I want the names of your associates or you'll wish this Horus had killed you first. If you thought he was bad, just wait till I'm through with you," she snarled.

She despised kidnappers, especially those who preyed on children not even old enough to hit puberty.

* * *

Draco was in hell, there were no other words for it. Someone had taken him like they had taken his father, and now he had to escape.

The voice had not been kind or gentle.

"**The gods have been watching your actions, Draco Malfoy, and you have not given us reason to keep you alive. You have only one choice if you wish to escape this desert alive. Find the treasure room and take any piece you desire. Only then shall you be set free. However, if you fail to make it there you shall find yourself being judged by the Feather of Ma'at in the halls of the dead. Pray for your sake that Anubis sees fit to spare your life."**

Ever since he heard that voice, Draco had been stumbling through the desert aimlessly. The only good thing was that there was plenty of water and edible plants all around, but it took days to find them.

Merely reaching one insured safety for at least two nights, and then he had to leave before the jackal headed monsters came for him. The Jeweled Scarabs never went near the place.

_(Anubis was tired of his warriors complaining of boredom, so he made an agreement with Seth. In exchange for letting them wander his little side dimension for the scarabs, Seth was given limited amount of control over his army. This included training with the sword he still had from Hamunaptra, since his skills were getting rusty. This also added to the challenge of finding the treasure room, because the warriors would kill anyone they caught.)_

Draco had survived three days, and was well aware that his kidnappers were counting and making bets. One of which spoke excellent goblin tongue.

He found another oasis. This one had fish, and it took him five minutes to get it cooking.

The jackal headed monsters smelled the fish, but the rules stipulated that they stay away for at least two days before attacking.

Horus was cold, not stupid. If he didn't give his victims a chance then the gods would bitch about it to Bast, who would complain to him. Besides it was fun to watch the wizards learn to walk on their own feet without abusing their magic. Akefia and Marik had endless fun mocking them and their inability to survive without their wands.

Yugi, on the other hand, squirmed. At least until the fourth Death Eater they sent to this dimension. After seeing their crimes he reluctantly agreed this was an acceptable punishment, and it wasn't like they made it impossible for them to escape. It was just extremely difficult to do so.

Plus they were setting a warning out to those taking the children from the Medjai clans. Bast had stopped magical interference, but she couldn't do a thing about regular interference.

Draco found an odd patch of sand. He stepped onto it, he found himself in a place of darkness. Behind him was the whine of the jackals.

"Congratulations Malfoy. You've proven that you aren't a total loss," said an amused man with green eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Harry Potter. This was mostly a test your cousin insisted on to insure you weren't too much like your father to be saved."

"Why? Why me?"

"To be fair, according to Sirius he was afraid you would turn into a total prick like your father. What I heard about your actions at school didn't help. But the fact you managed to avoid Anubis' army and the scarabs means you are worth allowing to live. Now the choice is yours. Do you want to live your life free from the pressures of the pure blood society, or do you want to forget this ever happened and go back to the way things were?" asked Harry.

"...I want to be free of the pure blood pressures. I'm sick and tired of bowing down to the bastard who claims he's all for pure blood supremacy while killing off families and limiting the available gene pool. And I don't want to join Dumbledore, because he's even worse if what my godfather has told me is true."

Harry blinked. That wasn't the answer he was expecting, but he wasn't about to ask.

"Alright then. I'll drop you off with Sirius while I deal with the next set of morons."

"...Go easy on Greg and Vincent. They may not be bright but they're still my friends."

"Have they taken the mark yet?"

"No, they planned to join with me," said Draco.

"In that case I will give them a three day reprieve, but that's all they're gonna get."

"By the way, what's with the whole 'find the treasure, get your life' bit about this test?"

"That? My brother and I agreed anyone who survived that desert with the scarabs and found our treasure room earned whatever they took. So we kidnap people who don't really deserve to live and chuck them into the desert. If they make it to the treasure room and take a piece, then they are automatically kicked out of the dimension. We just let in the Army of Anubis because the god complained about them being bored and it added to the risk."

In Draco's hand was a scroll of Egyptian magic. He didn't need the gold, and it had caught his eye.

* * *

Kaiba took one look at the midget and grimaced.

"Relax Dragon boy, this is Yugi, not that overbearing blowhard Pharaoh," said Seth without looking up.

"How can you tell?"

"The Pharaoh just barely clears five feet, and Yugi's hair barely touches your chin," said Seth flatly.

Seto looked at the one before him, and realized Seth had a point. Besides, Yugi didn't have that...aura...around him that made him want to bash his face in.

"Why is it that he just makes me want to punch him?" asked Seto to no one in particular.

"Inbreeding, worship and very few people allowed to tell him no without getting killed. Take your pick," said Seth.

"Inbreeding?" said Seto, looking sick. He could handle the idea of people who were gay (he employed a few from time to time, and knew some by name) but he drew the line at inbreeding.

Seth put down his book.

"Kaiba, we grew up in a time where the Pharaohs would often marry their own sister just out of lust. There was very little in the way of inhibitions for the Pharaoh back then."

"Actually, that's true. During the time of Ancient Egypt the Pharaohs would sometimes marry their sisters or even their mothers because they were beautiful," said Yugi, though he looked just as ill as Kaiba felt about that information.

"Did he...?" asked Kaiba, not sure if he wanted to know.

"He was an only child, though he had a cousin. That's not the entire reason I hate him though," said Seth.

"It's because he had a crush on you, wasn't it?" said Yugi. Kaiba nearly put in a crick in his neck turning to look at Yugi incredulous.

Seth growled, but didn't deny it.

"He kept harassing me, even though I made it damn clear I was never interested by throwing knives at him."

"How did you...?" asked Kaiba.

"Why did you think I ditched the Pharaoh? The jerk keeps bothering me to go see Seth, even though Seth made it very clear I was only allowed around his group without the Puzzle."

"You are more tolerable with it on," said Kaiba.

"So I've been told. Repeatedly, in fact, by more than just both groups," said Yugi sweatdropping.

The Pharaoh's personality grated on _everyone_ who didn't worship him. About the only person who could stand it for long periods of time was Anzu, and while he liked her as a friend he didn't want to listen to those damn friendship speeches of hers.

"Just so you know, we were waiting on you to get stronger so you could beat the crap out of the Pharaoh on your own. When you beat him, you'll be able to set the souls that his uncle sealed in the Items free to move on and if we're very lucky, be rid of the prick at the same time," said Seth, turning a page.

"...Is it possible to duel him with two decks? One for me and one for him?"

"You would have to make one that he isn't used to. Also, you would have to have it _on_ you during the Ceremonial Duel itself."

"Can you give me all the rules for this Ceremonial Duel?" asked Yugi. If he was going to be rid of the Pharaoh, he needed to know what he was allowed to do.

Seth smirked, and began to explain all the rules. Kaiba grabbed a chair and order some soda, as it sounded interesting.

Meanwhile, Atem was getting a rather unpleasant feeling that things would not go well when he finally fought Yugi.

* * *

Dumbledore was sweating like a pig. Fawkes refused to answer his call, and he knew without a doubt that whoever had kidnapped all those Death Eaters and dumped their bones all around Europe was responsible for this. The jackal-headed guards, who looked far too much like the description he heard of Anubis' army, had been hounding him since he was first dropped in this world. Both of his wands had been stolen long before he came here, and he was worried that he had forever lost the Elder wand along with the Resurrection Stone he stole from Tom.

The Cloak of Death had been confiscated by the goblin clans over three years ago at the request of the recently returned Potter Heir. Not that he actually used it, of course, since he claimed it would make him lazy.

He heard a howl of rage out in the distance. Once he reached the next oasis, he waited and eventually the source came to him.

It was Voldemort himself.

"Little bastard got you too?" he said.

"You know who did this?"

"Know? That brat had the balls to claim credit right before he dropped me in this hell hole!" snarled Voldemort.

Dumbledore sweatdropped.

"Who was it?"

"Harry Bloody Potter! First he ruins my plans, then he kills off all my good minions, and now he drops me in the desert without my wand and seals my magic!" bitched Voldemort.

"...Kill him when we leave?"

"Agreed. Wait, isn't he _your_ Golden Boy? What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"I was the one who brought him 5,000 years from the past and left him with his abusive aunt. Oh, and something about how I had to pay for abducting some children from a no-name clan of pure bloods in Egypt," said the senile old man.

And once again, plans of attempted murder on a third party bring mortal enemies together. Now if only Seth would quit moving the exit...

* * *

"_**Damn it Bast, tell your avatar to quit moving the exit!" **_screeched a bird like voice.

"_**Bite me bird brain. You agreed with the rest of us that Tom Riddle had to die. How is it **_**my****_ fault that Horus is following our instructions while your idiot avatar in England is walking with his mortal enemy?"_** said Bast snidely.

Because Tom Riddle (AKA Voldemort) had pissed off the gods that governed Death with those soul pieces of his, the gods had given Horus the go ahead to move the exit randomly in different directions just to make it near impossible for Voldemort to escape judgment. Since Horus was only allowed to drop people in _once_ per lifetime, if he managed to escape then it would be up to Horus using the book of Amun Ra to kill the bastard off once and for all.

Dumbledore he threw in as an extra, since he was still pissed when he found out that he was the one who stole the children from the Medjai and bound those phoenixes. The fact he had pissed off a few gods as well was just a bonus.

Ra, however, bitched anyway because since Dumbledore was traveling with Voldemort, it would be almost impossible for him to escape.

Not his problem.

In the meantime, several people were watching Dumbledore and Voldemort drunkenly stumble through the desert with amusement, some eating popcorn and drinking some high grade liquor.

It would be at least a week before Seth was seen at work...and the humming he was doing scared the shit out of everyone.


	20. Chapter 20

"I can't believe that old goat was the one to ruin your life," said Kaiba a week after Dumbledore finally bought it. Though in his defense, it took two battalions of Anubis' third best jackal warriors and nearly a quarter of Seth's pet bugs to actually get him to bite the dust.

Unlike Voldemort, Seth hadn't bothered to seal Dumbledore's magic, thinking he wouldn't be nearly as big of a pain in the ass to kill without both of his wands. A simple stunner and the one that gave Seth a bad vibe was his.

He hadn't known Dumbledore was almost at the same level as a proper mage from Ancient Egypt. Despite the fact he was senile, colorblind and power hungry, Dumbledore wasn't someone Seth should have taken lightly.

Voldemort...well Amemit actually got a stomach ache from eating him, and they had finally collected the rest of his soul pieces.

Bast and the other gods had taken it upon themselves to destroy all records of the foul rituals to make them since it was too difficult for even Seth to track them all down, let alone steal them. Not to mention it would take far too long anyway.

So now it all boiled down to one thing.

The Ceremonial Duel.

Because he had gotten rid of Zorc early, they wouldn't be forced to deal with the whole Memory World bit Shadi had set up. And frankly after he managed to get Marik locked in Azkaban for nearly an entire day, he could care less how pissed Shadi would be when he found out the duel was happening too early for the magic of the Pharaoh's memories replaying themselves to take full effect.

Besides, thanks to his coaching, Yugi had the best damn poker face he had ever seen and he knew how to block the Pharaoh from reading his mind. Which meant the Pharaoh wouldn't be able to learn his name from the midget unless he _let_ him know at a critical time as a distraction.

And, after nearly fifty straight duels with Kaiba, Yugi knew which card he drew half the time from his own personal deck by the feel of the magic in the card. It was similar to Mai Kujaku's perfume trick, only this doubled as magic training and wasn't easy to catch.

Much to the surprise of everyone who knew him, Yugi didn't have an updated version of his Grandfather's original deck, but one made of a bunch of spares that he had to remove since Yami didn't like the 'feel' of them while he dueled.

Where Yami/Pharaoh was an arrogant ass who liked to play his opponents and relied on luck half the time to beat them, Yugi was a silent assassin that most people overlooked because of the Pharaoh. He didn't like overpowering people right off the bat, or relying on the god card when things didn't go his way like Yami.

Instead he took quick pot shots followed by attacks from behind, much like an assassin would.

The second Bakura realized what type of fighter Yugi actually was, he had cackled so much that it gave Kaiba chills...right before he dragged the runt off for some real training in fighting.

If the Pharaoh did get a body, it was highly unlikely he would help his hikari like he was supposed to. Bakura sometimes took over for Ryou and dealt with people who tried to kidnap the boy in order to get at him or Seth.

Plus there were the cards Seth gave Yugi that would give him an advantage over the Pharaoh.

In a sign of trust, Seth gave Yugi two copies of his Ka beast, Maha Vailo, two Magician's Valkeria, and a different set of gods which the Pharaoh had no idea about, but Yugi was actually familiar with, being Japanese.

Not to mention the card Seto Kaiba gave Yugi that had him gaping, since even though he had heard of it, he had never seen it in person.

Satellite Cannon. A card that grew stronger each turn it was on the field, but couldn't be taken out by anything lower than a Blue Eyes White Dragon. If he got that on the field early enough and left it there while keeping Yami from summoning a god card, he could easily kill Obelisk or Ra with it. The attack power grew by a thousand each turn it was on the field. And the best part was that it only took a single sacrifice to bring it out.

(**FYI, this is an ACTUAL card. I got it once out of some ****crappy tournament pack when I still played the game, and a lot of people flipped out over it. I still have it too. It can't be destroyed by anything with a level lower than a BEWD, and after it attacks it's attack power drops back to zero.**)

Needless to say Yugi was rather pleased to have it in his deck, since Kaiba said that as long as he kept the Pharaoh far from Seth (who would strangle him the second the Ceremonial Duel was over if Ra managed to get him his old body back like he feared) Yugi could have it. He already had three copies of it anyway.

Yugi had already been a competent duelist, but in order to beat the Pharaoh, he couldn't rely on any of his usual luck, or the god's since there was roughly an even split between both.

Bast, Horus, Osiris, Anubis, Seth and Hathor were on Yugi's side. Ra, Nephthys, Isis, Ma'at, Thoth, Nut on Yami's side.

Since he planned to use his own deck and let Yami use the one that most people associated with when they thought of Yugi.

Which meant a lot of practice and getting the 'feel' of his deck right. Since Yugi was essentially making his own deck from scratch, he wanted to make sure it felt right before he used it against Yami.

He would need his A-game when he went against the King of Games and his grandfather's former deck.

As such, Seth, Bakura and Malik had all been dueling Yugi repeatedly for weeks just so he could hammer out the kinks of his deck.

So far he had most of his deck ready to go, but there were a few errant cards that simply wouldn't work out, despite the fact that they felt right.

Which was why Yugi took to surfing the internet for cards that caught his attention or snagged at his magic. Seth had promised to buy them for the runt, since the sooner he beat the Pharaoh, the sooner they would be rid of him.

And frankly his arrogance was getting on their nerves.

* * *

Yugi paused from surfing the internet and marked down another card. Soon. Soon they would be rid of...him. Sometimes Yugi wondered what it would have been like to be alone in his head, since it was obvious to anyone who had experience in Egyptian history or saw the pieces Yami wore that he was a former Pharaoh.

Yami was arrogant, annoying, and believed everyone should worship him and follow his every order. Yugi would have been hard pressed to defend the spirit if it wasn't for the fact that he was still pissed about the way he was sealed in that damn bubble for a full week because Yami's ego was so out of control.

Most people would claim Yugi was a mouse who needed Yami in order to survive on his own.

This was not the case at all. Seth had, when Yugi once brought the Puzzle over by accident without wearing it, looked it over.

He found several spells woven into the gold he hadn't noticed before. Spells that downplayed Yugi's personality when he was in contact with the cursed Item and made Yami's personality more dominant.

Bakura had been very surprised when he not only got along with Yugi, but practically considered him a friend so long as the Puzzle was no where near the boy. When you stop and consider that Yugi was the Pharaoh's reincarnation who had a healthy dose of humility and treated others with respect, this was quite shocking indeed.

Seth found that while Yugi had low confidence before Yami's appearance (mostly due to bullying and few actual friends), his self esteem had shot up because he was a good duelist and Bakura's lessons in self defense.

In fact Bakura was so impressed with Yugi's progress with the practice knife that he gave the teen one of his own.

His grandfather hadn't been happy, but when Seth pointed out why they were giving the boy a knife of all things (which in all honestly was safer than teaching someone as young and impressionable as Yugi how to shoot a gun), he had let it go. It didn't hurt that because of the knife (which Yugi rarely carried in plain sight) he wasn't bullied nearly as much.

* * *

"_Yugi, I am concerned about you spending so much time around Ryou. I know you like him and Marik, but being around Bakura and Malik can't possibly be healthy for you."_

_'This coming from the hypocrite who LOST a duel when the hostage had been released before it had even started, and then didn't listen to me when I tried to remind him that the seal was a fucking stupid idea to use?!'_ snapped Yugi, trying to finish his High School homework...and the essay the professor from the Egyptian Collage he applied to sent. Thanks to Seth, they had agreed to send him the work early so they could see how good he was.

"_For the last time, I'm SORRY! When are you ever going to let that go!?"_

_'When your ego isn't so large that it dwarfs Kaiba's Blue Eyes,'_ said Yugi flatly.

"_Yugi, exactly _HOW_ much time have you been spending with them?"_

Yugi had been leaving his Puzzle at home behind several security wards lately, and it had bugged the hell out of him because that meant if the need to duel arose he wouldn't be allowed to show his skill. And games were pretty much the only thing he _was_ good at. Because he had been a king in his previous life, he didn't have any real world skills in which he could earn his living.

_'Yami, if I let you take over my body for the weekend will you drop it? Seth showed me that trick Bakura uses to become corporeal'_ said Yugi. That aught to shut him up so he could get his homework done.

"_Are you sure? Hikari normally can't handle shadow magic that well."_

_'The most I plan to do is my homework. It's not like I plan to go into the Shadow Realm for a few hours,'_ said Yugi with a snarky tone.

"_Alright, but if you need me to help you, just tell me and I'll be there as fast as I can."_

Yugi snorted, but in a way that the Pharaoh didn't hear it.

* * *

Bakura laughed when he heard how Yugi ditched the Pharaoh. He was going to be working on his homework...but he never said where he was going to be doing it.

Yugi's form was a bit rough, but considering he wasn't the one made of shadow magic it was still better than most could pull off.

The tri-colored teen got into a stance, and Bakura got him started on the next set of moves. Two hours later, he was sitting down relaxing by dueling Seth, who was better than Bakura or Malik. Not to mention Kaiba, to the teen's annoyance.

Suddenly Yugi looked up from the computer (where he had been parked for the last fifteen minutes) and when he looked through his deck list, he stared.

Three months of planning...and it was finally complete. Sure, he had to get used to it first, but he could finally duel with his deck.

He made a note of the final card and didn't notice Seth was behind him.

"You finally finish it?" asked Seth.

Yugi squeaked in surprise, but nodded. Seth looked over the deck with a critical eye before he asked "Where are you going to get another Dark Magician?"

"The dumbass won a second one during the first Battle City Tournament and it has been in my spares ever since. It looks a little different from Grandpa's, but it still works."

"You mean the blond one with red armor?" said Seth in surprise. He hadn't know Yugi had that one.

"Yeah. _He_ won it off this weirdo and it looked kinda odd. But I never put it in my deck because I could feel that the Dark Magician Grandpa had didn't like him."

"I wonder why. Hell, I want to know why there's a different colored one when the original was formed from the sacrifice of one of HIS most loyal priests!"

"Why don't we just go and ask him directly?" said Yugi.

"Now that is an excellent idea," said Seth approvingly. He grabbed Yugi's shadow magic (which wasn't nearly as potent as _his_) and then opened a portal straight to his treasure room. Shaadi couldn't do a damn thing about it, because it was made from his magic even if it did lay in the Shadow Realm. Just like he couldn't interfere with the little game that Seth had going on with the Death Eaters.

He just set his little realm to open up on anyone stupid enough to have the mark, and they were snatched without him doing a thing. He was about to go to the Realm of the Beasts, when he noticed something odd.

There were patches of glass in his side realm where his pets were. And last he checked, there wasn't anything in there that used fire hot enough to create glass. Pausing long enough to let Yugi look through the treasure out of boredom, Seth looked for the cause.

And found it rather quickly as he saw a greasy haired man running for his life while throwing what appeared to be vials of liquid fire at the jackal-headed guards.

He was actually putting up a decent fight.

"Yugi, would you stay here for a moment while I go check on something? And don't read from the books that have the scarab locks on them. They might react badly to the shadow magic you're currently using," said Seth.

"Sure. I'll read some of these training scrolls instead."

* * *

Seth dropped into his little desert and went up to one of the guards who had dropped back.

"_What is going on here?"_

"_The little wizard came prepared. He's been giving us trouble for three days straight and he hasn't figured out that the oasis gives him a two day break yet. Those potions are annoying,"_ replied the guard. Seth handed him some water which got him a bark in thanks.

"_Hold on while I see what the hell is going on here,"_ said Seth.

This was highly unusual. Most wizards started to panic when they were snatched and their magic sealed partially without their wand. This man came prepared to fight his way out of the desert through potions.

He whistled sharply, and the jackals parted. The scarabs noticed their Master's presence, and vanished deeper into the sand dunes.

The man was breathing heavily, but he still had some fight in him.

"Now this is curious. I've been snatching those idiots for months now and you're the first one to actually fight back without magic."

The man snorted.

"Did you really think that someone like me wouldn't show up eventually? I knew my turn was coming up, so I prepared for it. I don't know what you did to Draco, Vincent and Gregory, but you won't kill me so easily."

"Who exactly are you?" asked Seth, curious.

"I am Severus Snape, head of Slytherin. Since you aren't being attacked and they actually listen to you, you must be the mysterious Horus."

"Snape? As in the same Snape who was tormented by James Potter and Sirius Black Snape?"

"...How did you know about that?"

"The idiot dog told me. Frankly I think they were idiots. Antagonizing a natural potions master is a fool's move, when they should have converted you to their little group to make their pranks far more potent. Now what shall I do with you, Snape? I have no quarrel with you and it's only a matter of time before you run out of potions. They (he nods to the guards) aren't particularly pleased by the attacks."

"Don't expect me to thank the spawn of Potter," he spat.

Horus smirked coldly.

"Oh Snape, whoever said I gave a damn about my father? Because of the old bastard, I never knew my real parents and what little I've heard of James Potter does not endear me to him. As for Draco, Gregory and Vincent... Well, they no longer have to worry about the Ministry or anyone else from England bothering them for that matter."

"What did you do to them?" snarled Snape. They were his snakes dammit, and he wouldn't allow their deaths to go unavenged. Not when the cause was right in front of him.

"I removed them from Europe. Draco passed the test, and he requested I go easy on his friends who were too stupid to do any real harm. Right now they are learning how to use magic without wands with my other students."

"They're alive?"

"Sirius asked that I test Draco to insure that Lucius Malfoy's stupidity was not inherited like he feared. Draco passed the test, and he didn't want to go back to Dumbledore. Once England is out of the Dark Ages, he'll go back. Last I saw him, he was rather enjoying mundane high school."

Snape looked him in the eye. As far as he could tell, Horus was telling him the truth.

Horus looked at Snape who, from what he could tell, wasn't a total loss like the rest. And at the rate he was going, he would piss off the guards and get killed.

Horus looked up and saw the hawk.

"Hey Horus! Is he cleared from this test or should he finish it like the rest of them?" he yelled.

The hawk dive bombed the two, before turning into a man with a hawk's face.

"_**He can leave early. At the rate he's going, Anubis' army will kill him the second he runs out of vials."**_

"Just checking. In that case, I'll take you to Sirius where he'll clear you with the rest of the group. If he pisses you off, you can hit or kick him, but no magic."

"...Can I give him a black eye?"

"Go for it."


	21. Chapter 21

When Sirius saw Snape, he fully considered hexing him on principle. However the fact Yugi wasn't shying away from him like he did most Death Eaters, and that Mokuba actually looked worried for him stayed his hand.

Mokuba empathy ability told him when people were genuinely bad or not in an instant. The fact he wasn't giving Snape the evil eye or doing anything meant the man wasn't as Dark as Sirius always believed.

Once Snape sat down and got his bearings back, the door opened to reveal a surprised Draco, Greg and Vincent.

"I don't believe it. I thought you were dead!" said Draco in shock.

Snape could understand why. Most of the Inner Circle had been taken early on. The fact it had taken months for him to be snatched was surprising, though it gave him time to prepare for it.

Once he learned about the fact that no one was being forced to returned to England (Seto Kaiba had offered him a job and a fully paid scholarship for him to learn advanced chemistry when he learned how good Snape was at Potions) Snape agreed to have his Dark Mark removed and was granted sanctuary...after he broke Sirius' nose, gave him a pair of black eyes and a broken arm. Bakura had been impressed, because Snape had done it all without the use of his wand.

* * *

"Oh no!"

"What's wrong Midget?" said Bakura.

"I sent my paper on Egyptian History to the Language professor by mistake! And I have an essay due today!" said Yugi.

"I'm sure he'll figure it out," said Seth not looking up from his new manga.

He was absolutely addicted to _One Piece_, if for no other reason than the _Pirates of the Carribean _movie he watched last week got him hooked on the Pirate genre.

Yugi was having a panic attack until a few minutes later an E-mail came from his Language professor.

"_Dear Mr. Muto,_

_ Rest assured I have forwarded your paper to the correct teacher, and I still expect your essay tomorrow at the latest. However, if you want some more time, you can do an extra credit for class. To make it easier for you, you can write a ballad about Ancient Egyptian History...but make it factual please."_

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. He still had to finish the book the professor assigned, and he had barely started.

He wrote back that he would do the extra credit, and then worried how he was going to write a ballad.

"By the way Yugi, did you know that the college you now attend online happens to be magical in origin?" said Seth.

And like that, the proverbial light bulb came on. He could write about how the Millenium Items came to be!

His eyes fell on the movie Seth had watched last week, and he remembered the song they sang in the first part. A slow grin came to his face as he figured out how to go about this.

* * *

Bakura, Seth and Marik all read the ballad Yugi wrote about the Millenium Items. It was more or less accurate, and once he gave them the tune to go with it they could see how he came to this.

"_Ballad of the Millenium Items_," said Seth.

"**The King and his men**

**Saw a means to an end**

**And through blood and soul**

**Paid the heathen god of old**

**To claim the Shadows as their own**

**The Kingdom saved**

**The price is paid**

**And vengeance is foretold**

**By Shadow's call, two brothers are bound**

**To retake what was stole**

**By Goddess's grace, a child was saved**

**And eternal glory was granted**

**The God of Kings, never once claimed**

**Was given a mortal soul**

**The King of Thieves, by honor bound**

**Would reclaim the stolen souls**

**The Prince of the Land, in bloodstained sand**

**Bound the Shadows to his will**

**The Prince of Thieves, child of another land**

**Returned to his time, yet Fate's hand on his future**

**Forever marked his soul**

**Seven Items, created by death and shadow**

**By blood they are one, and by blood undone**

**The Shadows shall reclaim the throne."**

Bakura read over the ballad.

"Not bad runt. Maybe a little rough, but still pretty good."

"Think the teacher would like it?"

"Considering it's the only one that gives a rough description of why the Items exist, he should. Want some help tightening it up a bit?"

"Yes please!"

* * *

Yugi's language professor was so pleased with the ballad that he agreed to overlook the homework Yugi had needed an extension on.

What Yugi had been unaware of was that it was a way of adding to the history of magical Egypt, and that he had passed an unspoken test. He found himself with new teachers and more interactive classes.

Yugi even brought Yami to his new classes, though he later felt it was a mistake.

Not because Yami had acted like a complete ass (which he did) but because the people there had been so fascinated that they poked and prodded him and treated him like a specimen to be examined.

Yugi's only consolation for that time was that he had gotten quite a few friends after it, who felt sorry he had to deal with such a blowhard living in his head thanks to a cursed artifact.

Of course that was nothing compared to what happened a week after that incident.

It seemed Seth's unspoken threat had gotten through to the English, because there was a sudden influx of people from Europe, many surprised anyone had brought them home.

There were also a few crying children, clearly too young to attend most magical schools and missing their parents. Within a few days of the news, a man with tribal markings came to return them home.

His name was Ardeth, the leader of the Medjai clan which most of the newcomers belonged to.

Yugi recognized the name in a heartbeat, because he had seen some of the conversations Seth had with the man. While he worked out a way to get the groups back to their location in the desert, Yugi tentatively approached him.

Ardeth didn't need an introduction, as Seth had mentioned the boy to him a few times. Seeing as how Yugi was quite interested in the history of the clan (and wouldn't press matters if told why) Ardeth agreed to let him come visit sometime during summer vacation as long as Seth came with him as a guide.

Oh, and he left the Pharaoh back home, since Ardeth had no desire to meet a man Seth had spoken of so vehemently.

Hearing the way Yami acted when Yugi brought him to meet his professors only cemented this opinion.

* * *

Yugi crashed on Seth's couch with a groan, and to the surprise of all who knew the boy accepted the beer Bakura handed him without thinking twice.

That usually only meant one thing.

The Pharaoh had driven him to drink and made his week hell.

It was a good thing for Yugi that they liked him well enough not to get him plastered and leave him out to dry.

They had done that quite a few times with the Pharaoh and Malik, and the results had been funny as hell. Yami was still trying to get the blackmail photos that Kaiba had so thoughtfully posted on a site that his fans had frequented. Mokuba had laughed his ass off when he heard about it.

What really worried Yugi was that the number of fans after Yami's pants had doubled afterwords.

In short, Yugi fully blamed Yami for most of his headaches. About the only good thing out of dealing with the Pharaoh was that he would soon be rid of the man one way or another.

And as it so happened, Seth had told the boy that once the hangover was gone he might be ready to deal with Yami once and for all.

Once he got his deck assembled anyway. A few cards had yet to come in, and as far as Yugi was aware, Yami had no clue that he had made another deck, specifically to deal with his darker half.

In the event that removing Yami would kill Yugi (he is the Hikari after all) Seth was more than happy to become the boy's Yami in Atem's stead. If it meant being rid of the Pharaoh, well, that would make his day even better.

At the very least after the Ceremonial Duel he wouldn't have to deal with the non-aggression pact made with Shaadi.

Yugi didn't care that he was underage, considering the fact he had to deal with Yami all bloody day and no amount of pain relievers would help (his friends had been utterly unsympathetic, seeing as how they were part of the Pharaoh's fan club, particularly Anzu) he had decided to hell with it all and went straight to Seth's house.

Mostly because he knew for a fact they had alcohol and didn't give a shit about underage drinking laws.

Old enough to kill and other fun things, old enough to drink until your liver died on you.

"What did he do this time?" asked Ryou with all the attentiveness one would give a train wreck in action.

Watching Yugi turn into a Mini-Bakura/Seth had that effect on people.

Or, as Bakura had so eloquently put it, watching the chibi get a God's-be-damned backbone without the blowhard ruining it.

The irony was that Solomon Muto liked Seth and Bakura more than he did his grandson's dark half. The main reason being that the brothers didn't rely on magic for everything...if they didn't like you, they would knife you end of story.

Hell, Solomon liked _Kaiba _more than he did Yami, and the ornery teen had put him in the hospital once!

Seth was counting down the days. Yugi had set a date for the Ceremonial duel and according to Seth, he had to wear the Puzzle one last time for the bodies to separate. Yami would get his own body of course, but he still had to wear the puzzle.

Yami had been less than pleased to discover Yugi was ditching him and his group to hang out with Bakura and learn from the man instead of him.

The irony that the Prince of Shadows preferred the company of the Prince of Thieves was not lost on Seth.

* * *

Yugi was on the couch, beating Bakura at a particularly violent video game which involved a lot of fake blood and digital graphics. The fact Yugi didn't even bat an eye at the sight of entrails, blood and other unspeakable matter just made Bakura's day.

The fact said midget was kicking his ass, less so.

A stray thought came to Seth's mind, and for some reason refused to go away.

So he voiced it aloud.

"Just out of curiosity, what do you guys plan to do once the Items are finally sealed and the souls released?" said Seth, turning another page in his book.

Yugi didn't look up from his game, but Marik looked up from the laptop he had swiped from Seth.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what are we going to do once the Items are gone for good and the Shadows are unsealed? I mean we can access the Shadows anytime we want so long as we know the Pharaoh's true name, but what are we going to do once the Items are gone? I don't know about you, but I really don't want to be in this dimension when the Gods finally get pissed off at the magicals and set the plague off on them that will remove their magic and forced them to change."

Yugi finally paused the game and looked at Seth in surprise.

"You can dimension hop?"

"One of the perks of being a Chosen is that you can jump worlds in order to 'spread the word' about whatever gods you serve. Or in this case avoid boredom."

"Where would you go?" asked Yugi.

All he had to really look forward to once Yami was removed was that summer with the Medjai.

Seth smirked and held up the book he was reading.

"_One Piece?_"

"While being King of the Pirates doesn't really appeal to me, being a pirate sailing a sea we have never been to before does."

"And it's almost identical to what we do anyway, only we'll be on the water mostly," said Bakura knowingly.

"Plus, while the English dubbed sucked ass, the original Japanese was actually quite decent," said Marik from the computer.

"Not to mention we've read quite a bit so we would know what was about to happen."

"And I want to try the Baratie! I mean they have fighting cooks, what's not to love about that!" said Seth with glee.

"Question," said Yugi.

"What?"

"Would the dumbass be able to follow us, and can we return at any time?"

"No to the first, yes to the second, though there would be a recharge period after each jump. Why, you want in?"

"I wouldn't have to deal with Duel fanatics, the Pharaoh or Anzu. What the hell do you think?" said Yugi flatly.

The others winced.

"You do realize that killing is pretty common, right?" said Ryou.

"I don't care. I've seen so many lose their lives during Shadow Games that it doesn't really affect me like it used to. At the very least I would be making a choice on my own without his royal annoyance trying to influence it."

Bakura and Marik snorted in agreement.

"When did you set the duel?"

"In two months. Gives me time to test out my deck and get the card in the mail."

"By the way, did you ever solve who the Red Dark Magician was?"

Seth cursed. It had completely slipped his mind dealing with Snape.

He quickly bookmarked his manga and vanished for three hours.

When he got back he had the oddest look on his face.

"You aren't going to believe this. The Red Magician is Ba-Ku-Ra before the Realm was sealed. Apparently some of his magic was sealed in Mahado before he became the Dark Magician and it resulted in split sorcerers. I'm guessing the rest of your memory went into him," said Seth in disbelief.

Bakura paused in devouring his steak.

"You have got to be fucking joking. My missing memory is in a secondary Dark Magician?!"

Yugi brought out the card and compared the two. Much to his horror, there was in fact a resemblance. The only reason Seth could think of that kept Bakura from picking up on the fact was the lack of scar under his eye.

Bakura was less than pleased to learn the missing portion of his soul was in the Pharaoh's Ka beast, even if it was a variant.

However, Seth had another suspicion.

"Yugi, before you go into the Ceremonial Duel, I want you to learn how to summon your Ka beast."

"Why should the midget learn that? It's obvious that he'll end up with something like Kuriboh," snorted Marik.

"Maybe, but I think not. We all know that while split souls are similar they can produce different beasts. It may be possible that Yugi will summon the Red Magician instead of the Original."

"Which would make him slightly weaker or as strong as the Pharaoh himself," said Bakura.

"And that would give him the advantage of surprise he would need," said Seth.

Bakura looked Yugi dead in the eye.

"You're going to learn Shadow Magic. Not that child's stuff the Pharaoh would have you learn, but the real kind."

"The Puzzle gave him access, he just needs control and power," said Marik.

And with that, Bakura upped the runt's training. It would be a rough two months.

* * *

**_If you want the tune to hum that ballad to, look up the opening song that the prisoners sing in Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End._**


	22. Chapter 22

It turned out Yugi's Ka beast wasn't the Red Dark Magician (ironically enough that turned out to be Ryou's), but rather Seth's second favorite shadow summon.

Yugi's Ka was Dharc the Dark Charmer. Considering his ability was to control Dark oriented creatures, it was surprisingly fitting. Strangely enough, prolonged exposure to Yugi and Seth was giving Dharc a power boost, because he was almost ready to unlock his Familiar-Possessed form.

With Dharc on the field, Yugi could take control of the Pharaoh's Dark Magician and sacrifice him for Satellite Cannon, taking him out of the equation.

And after two freaking months of listening to the dumbass pester him about what he was planning, Yugi was at his wit's end and ready to tie the Pharaoh up throw him inside the Scavanger's Daughter, and give Bakura and Seth the go ahead to start cranking the wheel.

(If you don't know what this is, simply put it's an archaic torture device which is pretty much the opposite of the rack. Instead of pulling your limbs apart it crushes you slowly.)

Yami was naturally very, very concerned when he happened to look in Yugi's room one night and found several ancient and extremely painful implements of torture in the room hiding in the shadows. While it still looked like someone had thrown up a kid's toy store in there, the fact that the torture devices were even there worried him greatly.

Particularly when on closer inspection he discovered they were part of Yugi's dreams...with him as the test subject. Though when he saw Yugi he didn't know which scared him more.

The torture devices...or the S and M fetish gear with him tied to any number of ways to die slowly and painfully.

Yami really should have seen this coming when Yugi started to wear leather more often...

When Bakura saw how the Pharaoh reacted to Yugi's dreams of late, he started laughing...like a hyena...on crack.

Yugi didn't seem repentant at the least.

* * *

"So Chibi, you about ready?"

"I've been ready for over a week. I have my deck assembled, Grandpa's old one is in my other pocket, and I am more than eager to get rid of that damn Pharaoh."

"Is it true that on the very likely chance he gets his own body that your Grandpa is making him get his own apartment?" said Seth gleefully.

Yugi smirked.

"Since I'm leaving for Egypt for a year, he said that the idiot has to get his own place to stay since he had no intention of dealing with all the nutjobs after his title. Coincidentally, Seth, could I duel you for Slifer? That way I can put him in my deck and kick Yami's ass and I won't be completely outgunned if he tries to bring out Obelisk or Ra."

"Sure. Just make sure it's in _your_ deck not the one the Pharaoh will be using. I'll duel you for it back once this is over, just in case."

"Like I would be that nice to the prick."

Yes, hanging out with Seth and co had added to Yugi's list of swearing rather well. He could now cuss the Pharaoh out like a drunken sailor and a woman who worked at an Ancient Egyptian whorehouse when cheated out of her pay.

When asked by Yugi how Bakura got so good at it, he shrugged and said "The Ancients were a hell of a lot more creative and they didn't rely on those pansy ass swear words you use today. When they were pissed at you, you knew pretty damn quick, and that was before they started throwing things at you."

Which explained more than it didn't about why Bakura didn't hesitate to use what he considered _minor_ swear words liberally enough to give nice old ladies a coronary.

Yugi was chucking the Puzzle into his suitcase so they could get to Egypt without getting into trouble over the rather large hunk of metal with the eye of Horus on the front.

Seth, whenever it was brought up about air port security, would curse quite strongly about the Taliban making it harder than it needed to be to load his knives and poisons onto his own plane, despite the fact he could have chucked it all in the Shadow Realm and saved himself the hassle.

He didn't like relying solely on his magic to defend himself. Neither did Bakura, who carried enough knives to be considered a small armory.

That being said, sneaking past air port security was a bitch and a half for the ancient thief. Which was why half the time Seth simply paid off the guards to look the other way.

The rest of the time the idiots tried to feel him up, so he gutted them and changed his appearance. Just because he had the looks of what most girls would call a 'bishie' and happened to be openly Bi did _not_ mean he enjoyed getting felt up by overweight guards who couldn't even put up a decent fight before he killed them!

Because he wasn't wearing his Puzzle, Yami had no idea that Yugi was taking them to Egypt and directly to the remains of Kul Elna, where the souls trapped in the Items would finally be put to rest.

Once Shaadi felt the presence of the other six Items, he would have to show up to find out what was going on...at which point Seth would steal the Scales and rob him blind.

One way or another, this ended today.

* * *

Yami woke up when Yugi put the Puzzle on again. It took him a moment to realize where they were.

"_Yugi, why are we in Egypt?"_

Yugi ignored his question and took the Items Seth handed him, placing each one in the slab beneath him.

When he got to the Eye, he felt someone show up. It was Shaadi.

"What is going on here?"

"Seth."

Seth gleefully bashed Shaadi on the head, and he was out cold. Embodiment of the seal or not, he was going to feel that in the morning. He swiped the Scales and tossed them to Yugi. Kaiba, Mokuba, Ryou, Isis, Marik and Malik were all going to bear witness to this duel. Bakura was making sure that they weren't interrupted by any sudden appearances of the Cheer Squad.

He wouldn't put it past Ra to try and bring them here directly to support his precious Pharaoh.

"_Yugi, what the hell is going on here?! Why are we in Egypt and WTF is Shaadi doing here?!"_ demanded Yami.

The twitch in Yugi's eyebrow became more pronounced with each demand. Soon, soon he would be free of having an bloody Pharaoh sharing brain space with him and all his demands. The man was less than useless outside a duel, his fan girls were insane, and half the crap he was dragged into was _his_ fault!

He pulled off the Puzzle, shoved it into the corresponding space and with no little sense of satisfaction said clearly in Egyptian_ "I claim right to succession as Ruler of Shadows. May the Gods favor the winner of this duel between Yugi Muto and the Pharaoh Atem."_

Yami...no, Atem, was thrown out of the Puzzle with a great deal of force and he looked bewildered. In his pocket was his deck, which he had fiddled with the night before and replaced a card or two before going back to sleep.

In Yugi's hand was his own deck, and he looked rather pleased with himself.

"Yugi, what the hell is going on? Why are we here?"

"We, _Pharaoh_, are here to put an end to your reign and break the seal on the Shadow Realm. I've put up with your nonsense for far too long, and I intend to kick you out. I don't know if you'll be here when this is over, and frankly I don't give a shit either way."

"Yugi, exactly _how_ much time have you spent around Bakura and Seth?"

"More than you. They tolerate me and they don't throw knives, curses or hexes in my general direction when I show up. That reminds me... Bakura, Seth, Marik, Malik and Ryou! When this nonsense is over, the first four rounds are on me!" said Yugi.

"WHOOHOO! FREE BEER!" cheered the others. Kaiba sweatdropped.

"You know the offer is always open for you and Mokuba to join us," said Seth.

"Mokuba is too young to legally drink," said Kaiba.

"I know, but the British mages happen to have something even he can drink without the cops getting on our ass."

"Whoohoo! Free Butterbeer!" said Mokuba with a grin. Seth gave him a thumbs up.

"What is Butterbeer?" asked Kaiba giving Seth a look. Yugi had already started the duel, and they were more or less there as emotional support and his cheering section for when he kicked Atem's ass from here to the ever after.

"A drink with less than two percent alcohol sold to thirteen-year-old children and is considered a good way to warm up on a cold day when warm?" said Bakura.

"Less than two percent? Are you sure?"

Seth handed him a bottle, and sure enough there on the label it said the alcoholic content.

"What sort of alcohol is in here?"

"We're still trying to figure that one out, to be honest... Ooooh, he just played Satellite Cannon! Nice! And here comes Maha Vialo!" said Seth.

"So far we've excluded rum, whiskey, bourbon, tequila, scotch, vodka and absinthe. We're still looking at regular beer made of hops, but it's a real pain in the ass trying to figure out which ones and what brand. Sweet, look at the bastard's face! Bet he wasn't expecting Izanami!"

"What?" said Kaiba, finally paying attention to the duel. Atem was down five hundred life points, and Yugi kept using pot shots at him to keep him from getting more than one monster on the field. Sure Atem had Big Shield Gardna, but that wouldn't last long with Satellite Cannon on the field, especially since Yugi was saving it for any real threats.

Plus there was the fact that he had somehow managed to get Slifer out within the first five turns, and Atem was actually sweating.

Well, that and there was the fact that for some reason both of his God cards ended up near the lower half of his fifty card strong deck whereas Yugi had roughly a forty-five card deck and already had some heavy hitters out.

Atem really wasn't expecting Yugi to abandon the Egyptian gods and go straight for the Shinto set...or the Satellite Cannon, which by now had roughly 7,000 attack points and was perfectly prepared to annihilate both his god cards if he tried to summon them.

Then again, Yugi had noted with disgust that he had been relying too much on his powerful cards to end the duel and his luck of the gods to get him out of a situation instead of actually practicing for scenarios like this.

Seth was watching with glee as Atem was getting his ass handed to him by Yugi...right until he noticed Shaadi was waking up. It had been an hour after all.

"What is happening here?" asked Shaadi with a groan.

"Yugi challenged the Pharaoh for the right to rule the Shadows and said his true name to make it official. When he wins, the Items will be destroyed and the souls set free to the afterlife where they belong. We aren't sure if Atem will get a body or not, but either way he won't be our problem anymore," said Seth flatly.

"No! He shouldn't duel the Pharaoh now! He has to defeat the Dark One who forced the Pharaoh to seal away the realm at the cost of his name!" said Shaadi in horror.

"You mean Zorc? We took care of that problem years ago. As for his name, all the Pharaoh had to do in order to get it back was simply ask. It wasn't like I was keeping it a secret from him," said Seth amused.

"Yes, but the fact you can't stand him would have been a problem," said Kaiba dryly.

"He could have asked Yugi. Bast knows I told him months ago."

"But, but, but...!"

"Face it Shaadi, the Pharaoh was getting too demanding for the poor kid. And don't think I didn't notice those spells on that damn hunk of gold which would make his personality more dominant. Yugi decided on his own that he would learn how to stand for himself, and he rarely wore the Puzzle for the past six months," said Seth.

Shaadi slumped, defeated. It was clear how this would end. Yugi had spend months preparing for the duel, instead of having it dropped on him. Seth knew full well that Yugi would have to duel the Pharaoh within a month of speaking his name aloud. Which was why he had only written the word, and Yugi had sounded it out in his head.

And since Yugi wasn't leaning on the Egyptian Gods, who would obviously favor the Pharaoh more than his descendant/reincarnation, he had learned to fight using his gods, from before he became embroiled in a fight that was thousands of years in the making.

"Besides Shaadi, don't think we didn't see where your little 'Memory World' was heading. If we let Yugi in there, it would only serve to make the Pharaoh stronger and we won't allow that when he has enough trouble keeping him in line," said Seth flatly.

"He brought out Obelisk! BURN BITCHES, BURN!" cackled Bakura.

Seth turned back to the duel, and cheered Yugi on as he had the by now 15,000 attack point strong Satellite Cannon obliterate Obelisk the Tormentor, who was barely 4,000 points strong.

It was massive overkill, and it also ended the duel.

Yugi grinned as his cheering section went nuts...right before the two of them were pulled up to see the gods.

* * *

Ra was _not_ happy, but Bastet was purring.

"_**It appears to me that the judgment is final. Clearly Yugi Muto is capable of handling the Shadows on his own,"**_ she purred.

"_**Agreed. Atem, it is time for you to stand down as King of Shadows. However, in the spirit of fairness we shall give you a choice. Do you wish to live out the remainder of your life as a mortal once more, or to ascend to the afterlife to see your people?"**_ asked Osiris.

"If I stay in the mortal plains, would I still be able to see my people once I die again?"

"_**Of course. This would just give you time to live your life like a normal Magus. At best you would be putting off death for a hundred years or so."**_

"In that case I wish to stay in the mortal world," said Atem.

"Just to be clear, Atem, Grandpa said you'll have to move out once we get back. He doesn't want to deal with the crazies that go after you, and since I won't be living in the shop for the next year or so he doesn't want you nearby without a buffer," said Yugi flatly.

Atem clearly was surprised by that news.

"I already had an account set up in your name, and it has about two million dollars US currency in it, so you should be able to live off that until you can get on your feet."

"_**Yugi Muto, as the new King of Shadows, you shall be given full authority over the Shadow Realm and if need be, the ability to merge with your Ka beast. We wish you the best of luck...and please, try to keep Horus from causing too much trouble,"**_ said Osiris.

Yugi saluted the god, and they went back.

* * *

Seth took one look at Atem, cocked his right hand back, and hit the man with a right hook.

"Damn. Bakura, I'll pay you when we get home alright?" said Seth with a scowl.

Bakura snickered.

"Let's get the hell out of here before this place collapses. Now that the Shadows have released the souls inside the Items, our family should be at peace," said Seth.

"You mean those Items?" Mokuba asked innocently.

Seth followed his finger, and his eye twitched.

"#$%^&*(). Yugi, could you ask the gods to release the souls?" he said, eyebrow twitching rampantly.

Bakura hefted the Ring up. Because of his good behavior, he had been given a body as well...Malik had one too, since they had long since gotten used to his presence.

"I don't sense the souls in here."

"Fine, then could you ask them to reclaim the damn Items? They were made of the bodies of our village," said Seth.

That got a reaction out of the gods, as the entire room began to shake and crumble.

"Now that is more like it," said Seth.


	23. Chapter 23

_Epilogue, One Year Later..._

It had taken relatively little time for Atem to get used to having his own body. It had taken even less time for Anzu to find this fact out and try to get into his pants.

The most horrifying part was that she actually succeeded in six months. The second Yugi learned she was dating the former Pharaoh, he immediately told his former Yami that he would not help pay child support.

Yugi was not an idiot. Atem barely knew how to put on rubbers, and it was unlikely Anzu would care about them until it was too late.

Yugi was already a year away from getting his doctorate in Egyptian History, and had graduated High School before any of his former friends.

They had been drifting apart for over two years now, and it was pretty obvious that they were mostly in it for the adventure.

Yugi snorted.

_'If they want to bail the Pharaoh's ass out, let them. It's not my problem anymore.'_

His summer with the Medjai had helped him to make a name for himself in the archeology community. He faithfully wrote down the Medjai's past, with some input from Siris.

Thanks to him, the Medjai clans had been placed under protection from the Egyptian Government as part of it's cultural history. They were living proof of how people had lived in the desert for thousands of years.

As a result, the theft of magically-inclined children had dropped to zero.

Yugi also learned how to fight the Medjai way, which pleased Seth to no end.

Marik had begun a program to help the Tomb Keepers integrate with modern society with Isis in charge. Little by little, his people were coming out of the darkness.

Sirius and the other magicals that Seth had spared had finally managed to handle living the 'muggle' way. Draco had impressed Seth by graduating Japanese high school with full honors and a scholarship.

Of course not all was well in England.

With the removal of a good portion of the Pure Bloods, their society was undergoing a massive overhaul. Muggleborns found themselves stuck between choosing their magic over their freedom, as the Ministry desperately tried to cling to their old ways.

Seth had watched the anarchy that was unfolding in magical Europe, and he snorted in amusement.

If they didn't get their heads out of their ass, the Osiris was going to unleash a series of plagues to wipe out anyone who interbred with their own cousins. Considering the pure bloods were so closely related that it was nearly impossible to find someone who had a 'pure' lineage and wasn't in the recent family tree (as in once removed at least) there was little hope they would recover from this blow.

Even if Seth had dealt with their dark lord problem. He had noted one witch in particular who seemed to be spearheading the restoration and updating of the magical communities by the name of Hermione Granger. She and her husband Blaise Zabini were slowly but surely getting these people out of the Dark Ages. Their strongest supporters were Neville and Hannah Longbottom.

About a month after the Ceremonial Duel a girl named Luna Lovegood and her father had shown up in Japan and honed in on Seth like sharks to blood.

Fortunately they weren't after Seth or any fortune, but rather help in locating creatures most people had never heard of, let alone seen. She had amused Seth so much that he had offered to bring them with him when they jumped worlds. He had a feeling she would get a real kick out of the sea monsters, plus their group was seriously lacking females.

Much to his surprise, she was giving Yugi more speculative glances than anyone else, and he seemed just as interested in her as she was him.

Kaiba had begun dealing with a pair of identical twins in order to try opening a series of joke shops. Considering he had rebuilt an empire without once dealing arms to countries like his stepfather and instead on focusing solely on games and the like, pranks and jokes weren't too far a stretch.

If he kept this up, he would soon be worth billions instead of the hundreds of millions he was already worth. It was a miracle he was still able to fend them off with his bat and halfway decent security force.

Kaiba had Bakura and Seth look over his guards. He wasn't a fool...Seth was the best bodyguard he had ever hired. Five months of training with those two, and he could claim his security was almost competent at times. Not to mention loyal to him so long as he paid. It helped that Seth had Mokuba bring the poor guards refreshments during training and that Kaiba let them take days off on Seth's suggestion.

Seth knew that things were finally winding down.

Which was exactly why he was scheduling his world jump in six months. He was confident, not stupid.

He gave the European magicals that long before they tried to nab him and force him to help contribute to their declining gene pools in a bid to reclaim the pure blood hold on their dwindling society.

_Six months later..._

"You ready Chibi, Moon girl?" said Seth.

He had been entirely unsurprised that Yugi and Luna started dating. Or that Luna had an actual doctorate in cryptozoology.

Luna was an odd duck, but she was Yugi's odd duck. Which meant she was completely off limits.

Kaiba, Mokuba and Siris wouldn't be joining them for another year or so, just so Mokuba could get his education in, despite being in online college classes. For a nearly fifteen-year-old, he was scarily smart.

Seth could only thank Bast that Mokuba had little interest in ruling the world, since he was almost certain the runt could pull it off. Then again, the paperwork would be hell itself.

Meh.

Marik, Malik, Bakura and Ryou were all ready to leave. They had been preparing for months now, and Seth had stockpiled enough food and water to last them a year at least.

Plus there was the fact that as the new King of Shadows Shaadi couldn't block them anymore without Yugi's approval.

"Well if everyone is ready, I suppose there's only one thing to say."

Seth stood up looked at no point in particular and...

(_**HEY! NO BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL YOU LUNATIC!**_

"BITE ME! FOUL AUTHORESS!"_ roared Seth._

_**I don't care if this story is almost over and the sequel still needs a name! YOU ARE NOT BREAKING THE FUCKING FOURTH WALL ON MY WATCH! NOW GET BACK IN THERE AND KILL SOMETHING!**_

"Like hell! I finally got rid of that damn Pharaoh! I want some action too dammit!" _said Seth._

_**That is what the sequel is for!**_

*Raises bat... ****BAMM!*****

"FUCK!"_ said Seth, rubbing his head._

Points at nearest port.

_**NOW GET OUT THERE AND STEAL SOMETHING, OR I SWEAR TO BASTET I WILL PAIR YOU WITH ATEM IN THE NEXT STORY!**_

_Seth merely flips authoress off..._)

"Uh...what was that about?" asked Ryou sweatdropping.

"Bitchy author said I couldn't break the fourth wall. GO TO HELL SAKURADEMONALCHEMIST!"

**THAT'S IT! PREPARE TO DEAL WITH THE MOST UNSPEAKABLE HORROR EVER CREATED!**

_(Drops a sweaty and naked Gai and Lee who proceed to use the unspeakable genjutsu of the excessive man hug...)_

"MY EYES! THEY'RE BURNING!"

_**HA! TAKE THAT! And without further ado, I hope you enjoyed this fic. I promise to bring even more hilarity and M rated fun in the next one. Though I still need to make it...and the name... So until next time... (swings bat and puts Seth out of his misery...) keep reading folks~!**_


End file.
